


Endangered Hope

by childofdreamz



Series: Wayward Dream Saga [3]
Category: Digimon Adventure Zero Two | Digimon Adventure 02
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Gen, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Minor Violence, Post-Canon, mild romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-09
Updated: 2015-09-10
Packaged: 2018-02-08 02:11:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 27
Words: 179,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1922805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/childofdreamz/pseuds/childofdreamz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five months have passed since the events of Guardian Angel. Takeru and the rest have returned to their everyday normal lives. That is until one day Lee shows up at Takeru’s and the warning the young boy had given him before the final battle with Shaitanmon comes back to haunt him. Things are much more dangerous this time around and once again things are not always what they seem. Can Takeru and Patamon survive this time or will Hope be lost?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One Lets play some More

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copy righted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it’s Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copyright for it.

A small brown and tan Digimon with bat like wings for ears lay asleep on a couch in an apartment located in Odaiba, a sector of Tokyo. The small Digimon had been watching the television and had fallen asleep not to long after the news had come on since he had no real interest in it most of the time. A woman was on the screen reporting what was happening around the world the date that appeared below her read April 2007, “ … There have been people who have gone to various hospitals around the world in order to have their injuries attended to have been making some very remarkable claims about the causes of those injuries. Doctors and nurses both have reported that the people are claiming to have been injured in their dreams, yes their dreams, only to find that once they have woken up that, much to their shock, their injuries are indeed real. Experts claim that it is, of course, impossible for one to be injured because of things that have occurred in ones dreams. They have stated that most likely the people who have been injured where sleep walking and that while sleep walking they have somehow managed to injure themselves and this influenced their dreams not the other way around. The people who have been injured argue against these claims saying that they have awoken in their beds while several others state that there is nothing in their home that could have caused the injuries that they have sustained…”

Within the kitchen of the apartment, a teenage boy stood at the counter chopping vegetables on a cutting board. His sapphire blue eyes were intently focus on what he was doing in order to keep from cutting himself with the knife. The tops of his knuckles on both hands as well as his fingers below the middle knuckle had white scars caused from the burns he had received over five months ago. The sides of his hands that faced away from his body also had such scars, but the teenage boy had grown use to them and only really noticed them now when they where pointed out by others. He shifted his stance slightly as he set the knife down to add the vegetables to the beef stew he was currently cooking. His mother was running late, which occurred far more often than the teen liked, so he had taken it upon himself to make dinner tonight.

With the vegetables added he put the lid on the pot turning it down slightly so it wouldn’t over boil. He then untied the white apron he wore over his green t-shirt and jean pants and laid it on the counter away from the stove so he could put it on quickly if needed. The teen was then heading for the living room to sit while he waited for it to finish cooking when he heard pounding on the door. His eyes narrowed slightly as he walked towards the door not knowing anyone who would pound on the door instead of ringing the doorbell. He glanced over his shoulder to see if the small Digimon had awoken and indeed he had. The Digimon had moved into the hallway his ocean blue eyes focused on the door with his head tilted to the side out of habit.

Reassured that he had back up if needed the teen walked the rest of the way to the door unlocking it and opened it up. A young boy stood in the front of the apartment door his face covered by the crook of one of his arms as he cried. “Lee?” The older boy asked and the small boy removed his arm looking up at the older teen with his royal blue eyes.

“Takeru!” The boy cried dashing over to Takeru burying his face into the older boy’s shirt as he hugged onto him tightly. Takeru glanced down at the boy wrapping one of his arms around him as he then glanced outside wondering what had Lee so upset. A bear like Digimon stood there with charcoal colored fur and sky blue eyes. He wore an indigo baseball cap backwards on his head while he had a royal blue belt that went over his left shoulder and down to his right hip as well as several matching ones on his paws. Behind him lay a teen older then Takeru who was unconscious with a fiery dog like Digimon lying beside him who, was also unconscious. The teen appeared to have several injuries on him that had hastily been treated while it was always impossible to see if the German Sheppard colored fiery dog like Digimon had any on him.

“Lee what happened?” he asked looking down at the boy only able to really see his shoulder length wavy black hair as well as the dark green sweater he wore.

The boy looked up sniffing. “I don’t know!” Lee told him and Takeru untangled the younger boy from around him then he gently pushed him into the apartment as he walked out of it to the older teen. He turned his attention to the bear like Digimon.

“Can you help me carry him in?” he asked. The Digimon slowly nodded his head and Takeru walked to the head of the older teen pushing him up into a sitting position so he could get his arms under his and link his hands across his chest. The bear Digimon then took the teen’s legs and between the two of them they were able to carry him inside setting him down on the couch. Takeru walked out again looking at the dog like Digimon. The Digimon was about the size of an adult male wolf and while he had no doubt his partner, the older teen, who was taller than Takeru could carry him Takeru highly doubted that he could. It made Takeru wonder just how Lee and the other Digimon had gotten them here in the first place.

Takeru turned to look back into the apartment. “Patamon can you evolve in to Angemon and carry Rascmon inside?” he asked. The only reason he had not asked the small Digimon to also evolve to Angemon to carry the older teen inside was because he didn’t like having Patamon evolve if he didn’t have to.

“Yes,” Patamon told him s he flew outside landing near Rascmon. A flash of light later, he had evolved into Angemon and was easily able to pick up the fiery Digimon. Takeru followed Angemon inside the house closing the door behind him while the angelic Digimon walked into the living room. He carefully sat the dog Digimon next to the side of the couch then devolved back to Patamon.

Takeru looked at Lee who sat in a recliner the bear like Digimon standing beside him his large paw on the small boys arm trying to offer the boy some comfort. There were several questions going through Takeru's mind at the moment, but first he needed to treat the older teen’s injuries better. Takeru left the room heading for the bathroom to fetch a first aid kit. When Takeru came back, he knelt beside the couch setting the first aid kit in front of him. While Takeru wasn’t as good as his friend Jou when it came to treating injuries the teenage boy had taken a few first aid classes after his hands had been burned. As long as the injuries weren’t too serious he could treat them on his own without having to call Jou or seeking higher medical aid.

Takeru looked at the older teen having a bad feeling with the amount of bandages Lee had used on his older brothers stomach Jou would have to be called. He stayed there for a moment and shook his head as he stood back up to walk over to the phone. Once there he picked it up and headed into the kitchen to check on the stew he was cooking while he called. The teen had decided not to take the chance and that it would be better to call Jou. He just hoped that he was at his apartment…

~*~*~*~*~*~

A teenage girl sat at a desk in her room her homework spread out in front of her. She leaned forward to write an answer on it only to have some of her waist length brown hair fall over her shoulder. With a sigh she finished writing the answer then picked a hair tie up to tie her hair back with before she continued at her task. The teen was about to write down another answer when she heard singing that made her stop her movements completely;

_I’ve got a lock_

_A little lock on my mind_

_Rusted open the Key long gone_

_Oh sweet sanity where have you fled?_

_Oh sweet sanity where have you fled?_

When the person signing had stopped the teen took a deep breath and turned to look at the only window in her room. There in the larger then normal window sill sat a Digimon that looked very much like a young boy of nine starring out the window. The easiest way to tell he was a Digimon was the six pure white angelic wings that came from his back. Takeru had once described what this particular Digimon had once looked like and both she and he had to admit his appearance had changed greatly. There was a time his wings had been black instead of white and the blond shoulder length hair that was pulled back into a ponytail had also been black. Instead of the black Tai Chi uniform he had once worn he now had a grey tunic that had bell sleeves while the tunic itself fell just to the middle of his thigh. Around his waist was a plain leather belt with an iron buckle. The angelic Digimon also wore tan breeches and his feet where bare. The only thing that had really remained the same about the child stage Digimon were his lavender eyes.

“Tsumon, where did you hear that song?” the teen girl asked. The last time she had heard that song was over five months ago when Tsumon had been in his Ultimate stage attacking Takeru and Patamon with the intent to kill them. Granted it wasn’t Tsumon himself that was attacking, but something that had taken over his body. When Patamon had finally beaten him, he had reverted back to his egg stage. After words, when he had hatched ten days later the Digimon had no memory of what had happened before. The fact that he was singing a song he shouldn’t even remember had put her on edge.

Tsumon continued to look out the window as he answered her, “I heard it in dream once…” The angelic Digimon turned to look at her and noticed how pale her face was. He hopped out of the window sill and walked over to her. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

She smiled telling herself to calm down before she answered him, “Nothing’s wrong Tsumon.”

~*~*~*~*~

Half an hour later had Jou instead kneeling beside the couch treating Trace’s injuries. Upon Jou’s very wise suggestion Takeru had moved Lee as well as the two conscious Digimon into his room. He now sat at his desk while Lee shared Takeru’s bed with the bear Digimon and Patamon. Once again there were several things he wanted to ask Lee, but he decided to go with the more simple questions for now. Such as how did Lee get here? Both Lee and his older brother where special in the sense that they were not from this world. Each had their own little world that they called realms that they watched over with a specific job they were supposed to do. Lee, for example, had the job of guarding memories. He had told Takeru the first time they had met that he guarded humans, animals, Digimon and other living creature’s memories. It had also been made quite clear to Takeru that coming to the human world was beyond his ability so it made Takeru wonder how he had gotten here. It was most likely a better question at the moment then trying to find out what had happened to Lee’s older brother.

“Lee how did you get to the human world?” he asked.

Lee turned his attention to him. “Through a Digital Portal,” Lee told him pulling a Digivice out of his jean pocket. Takeru had already figured he had become a Chosen Child with the appearance of the bear like Digimon. He had seen his type before so he knew unlike Lee’s older brother whose Digimon had been created by their sister as a gift and only recently became a real one, he was a real one from the start. Takeru also had a feeling Lee was avoiding answering his question because the boy was smart and most likely knew what he was asking from the start.

Sighing, Takeru reworded the question, “How did you get out of your own realm Lee?”

Lee stuffed the Digivice back into his pocket. “I just did… I copied my brother and made a door appear when I unlocked it and walked through it I was in the Digital world,” Lee told him pulling a key out of his pocket that was a brighter green then what Takeru had on his D-3. The key from what Takeru understood was how they controlled their realm and how they traveled between the different worlds. Lee’s older brother, Trace, had been left stuck in a world known as the World of Illusions when his had been stolen. He had only been able to leave with the help of Patamon and another Digimon, named Calilimon. Just thinking about the other Digimon made Takeru feel sad.

“I was shocked when a door suddenly appeared in front of me and a human kid came walking out. He got one look around the place before he fainted,” the bear like Digimon told Takeru as he looked at Lee who was wishing his Digimon had kept the part about him fainting to himself even if it was true.

Takeru looked at Lee. “Why did you faint?” he asked.

“Took more power than I thought it would,” he mumbled as he avoided looking at Takeru.

Takeru nodded and pulled his dark green razor cell phone out of his back pocket. It had Trace’s cell phone number on it and since he had last seen the older teen in November he had called him several times worried about his sudden disappearance. With him appearing injured like he was with his little brother Takeru regretted that he had only gone searching a few times for the older teen. He had checked both this world and the Digital world having never found him. Takeru had hoped that Trace had just managed to return home making it impossible for Takeru’s everyday cell phone to contact him…

“Lee what happened?” he asked looking at the younger boy knowing that delaying asking the question was chancing putting others and themselves in danger.

Lee shook his head. “I don’t know… My three sisters left sometime in the beginning of December to look for Trace because he should have returned home by then… I haven’t seen them since, but by checking their memories I knew that they were looking for Trace… I kept trying to look at his and Rascmon’s memories, but all I ever got was complete blackness. Then about two days ago I got something from Rascmon. He had an unconscious Trace in front of them and I could tell that both of them where in the Digital World. I couldn’t get in contact with my older sisters so I thought it would be best to go on my own and like Bearmon told you I fainted almost as soon as I arrived,” Lee explained then turned his attention to the charcoal furred Digimon.

Bearmon nodded. “I took him back to my place and when he woke up a day later he told me why he had come to the Digital World. I didn’t like the idea of letting him walk around on his own so I decided to go with him. When I told him so the Digivice appeared shocking us both. After words we went searching and after several hours we found some Digimon who had seen his brother. They led us to him and we found one of the TV’s that serve as a portal between here and the Digital World,” he explained.

That still left how they had managed to get to Takeru’s apartment but at the moment that didn’t really seem to matter. “You three stay in here,” Takeru told them as he stood up opening the door. Gomamon, who sat beside it, looked up at him as he walked out and nodded. He had no doubt he was there to make sure Lee stayed in Takeru’s room. The last thing the young boy needed to see at the moment was Jou treating his older brother’s injuries. Takeru closed the door behind him and walked into the living room as he stopped in the archway. “How is he?” he asked looking at Jou.

Jou looked up from what he was doing to Takeru for a moment then back to Trace. “He’ll be okay. I just got to finish bandaging the rest of his wounds,” Jou told him as he glanced at Rascmon. “He’s going to be harder to figure out how badly he’s injured with the way his fur is made of fire… I’m not sure if there is actually any real body below the fur,” Jou told him.

Takeru glanced at Rascmon. The teen had often wondered if he was completely made out of flames or not. “I have a bad feeling Trace hasn’t found his key,” Takeru told Jou.

“Then you saw tonight’s news?” Jou asked as he kept his focus on what he was doing.

“The news?” Takeru asked turning his attention to Jou. It had, of course, been on because Patamon hadn’t turned the television off but he had been too busy with making dinner to really pay attention to it. Besides if something big did happen he usually heard about it from his mother over dinner since she was a journalist.

“I’ll take that as a no… The news said people have been reporting to hospitals that the injuries they have sustained happened during their nightmares and they had awoken to find them real,” Jou explained causing Takeru to look down at his hands. The burns that had caused his hands to scar had been inflected in a nightmare and like the people on the news he had awoken to find out his hands had really been burned.

“That… That isn’t good,” Takeru said looking at Jou again stuffing his hands into his jean pockets to stop himself from starring at them. The particular nightmare that had caused them had been a variance of one he had since Angemon had sacrificed himself to erase Devimon. The scars where a nasty reminder when he looked at him that he was truly helpless to help his small Digimon friend in such cases… His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the front door of the apartment open and his mother, Natsuko, walked in. Like her son her almost shoulder length hair was blonde though hers was darker in color then her sons and she also shared the same blue eyes with him.

“Takeru, Patamon, I’m home,” she called into the house as she set her purse down to switch her shoes for slippers.

Takeru glanced at Jou before heading into the hallway and towards the door. “Welcome home, Mom,” he greeted her

About an hour later had his mother caught up on what was going on including just who Trace and Lee where since his mother had never meet them before. By then Jou had finished treating Trace’s injuries so Takeru and him had carefully moved Trace from the couch into Takeru’s room laying him down on Takeru’s bed. Jou had also checked Rascmon for injuries, but had been unable to find any. They had left him where he was but had Angemon lift him long enough to place a spare futon under the Digimon. Lee had moved into the living room and now sat on the couch with Patamon on his head and Bearmon sitting beside him. Natsuko, having changed out of her work cloths, sat beside Bearmon looking at Lee. “Lee is there any way I can get in contact with your parents?” she asked.

Lee shook his head before he answered her, “No, my parents died not to long after I was born… The only other family that I know where they’re at is my uncle who lives in Australia but only Trace knows how to get in contact with him.”

Natsuko nodded and leaned forward brushing some of Lee’s long bangs out of his eyes. “Well until you can get in contact with your sisters you’re more than welcome to stay here,” she told him smiling softly.

Takeru, who was still in his room, leaned against his desk Jou sitting in the chair at it. “Lee tried to warn me that it wouldn’t end with beating Shaitanmon, but with over four months and nothing happening I thought it was over…” Takeru told Jou as he glanced over at Trace. It was quite obvious he had been wrong, dead wrong.

Jou sighed looking up at Takeru. “We need to find his key before more people are hurt,” Jou told him. Trace guarded Nightmares and almost half a year ago his key had been stolen by the Digimon known as Shaitanmon. He was the one who had tried to kill Takeru and Patamon using Trace’s key to enter Takeru’s nightmares and harm him there. Of course Takeru hadn’t been the only one he had done this to, Kohana his partner, had also been dragged into one such nightmare though she was only harmed after she had woken up. Since he had not used it to try and get to anyone else Takeru had believed that the entity that had taken over the gentle Tsumon known as Red had not been able to do it to anyone else, but once again he was wrong.

“With where Lee found him its obvious Trace’s key is somewhere in the Digital World. I’ll get the others who aren’t in college to help me look for it after school tomorrow,” Takeru stated looking at Jou.

“Speaking of school what are you going to do with Lee tomorrow? You have school and your mother has to work. I doubt it would be a good idea to leave him and his brother here alone,” Jou pointed out and Takeru had to agree with him. He doubted that Bearmon could evolve higher than his adult stage and if whoever had injured Trace decided to attack again then there would be no one here to stop them.

Sighing, Takeru thought a moment before he finally came up with an answer. “Sora doesn’t have any classes tomorrow. I’ll ask if she and Piyomon can watch them for me,” Takeru told him taking his cell phone out of his back pocket. He flipped it open then went through his address book until he found her number and selected it. He held the cell phone up to his ear and listened to it ring.

“Hello, Takeru,” Sora greeted when she answered the phone.

“Hello Sora, how are you?” Takeru asked and was not at all surprised when he heard his brother’s voice in the background.

“I’m doing well how about you?”she asked and he once again heard his brother in the background though he couldn’t hear exactly what he was saying.

“I’m fine but something happened. I was wondering if you could help me with something if you’re not busy doing anything tomorrow,” he told her.

There was a slight pause as he heard both his brother and Sora talk for a moment. He was beginning to wonder if he should have said it in another way when Sora began speaking to him again, “Sure Takeru, but what happened?” she asked.

Takeru sighed and glanced at Trace for a moment before looking out the window and answering, “Lee showed up at my house. I don’t remember if I told you about him or not but he’s Trace’s younger brother. With him was Trace who is injured and unconscious at the moment along with an unconscious Rascmon and Bearmon who is Lee’s Digimon,” Takeru explained.

Another pause in the conversation as Sora most likely explained to Yamato what was going on. “Do you know what happened to Trace and Rascmon?” Sora asked.

“No, Lee managed to find him by chance. The only way we’ll find out what’s happened to them is when they wake up,” Takeru told her.

“What is it that you need me to do Takeru?” Sora asked.

“I was wondering if you could come over tomorrow and keep an eye on the four of them with Piyomon. There is no telling if whatever attacked them might come again or not,” Takeru told her

Once more he heard the two talking to each other before Sora answered him, “Yes of course Takeru. Yamato said he’ll come by as well once his classes are over. Until then I can borrow his copy of the apartments key to get in,” Sora told him.

Takeru smiled. “Thank you Sora,” he told her.

“You’re welcome Takeru. Oh Yamato wants to speak with you,” Sora told him and he could hear as the phone was passed to his brother.

“How badly injured is he?” Yamato asked.

“Enough for me to have Jou come over… I wasn’t even going to chance trying to treat him,” Takeru told him glancing at Jou.

“Can I speak with him?” Yamato asked him.

“Sure just a minute,” Takeru said looking at Jou. “Yamato wants to speak to you,” Takeru told him as he handed the cell phone over to him.

“Yes?” Jou asked when he placed it near his ear.

“How bad is he Jou?”

Jou sighed pinching the bridge of his nose before answering, “If he was anyone else I would have taken him to the hospital instead of treating him myself. He’s pale… More so then normal so he’s lost a lot of blood and there is one wound on his stomach that I had to stitch.” The only thing that had prevented Jou from taking Trace to the hospital was because there was a very good chance that Tracy Lance Star had no records in this world. Jou would have to do a lot of explaining when it came time to check him out.

“Any idea what might have caused the wounds?” Yamato asked.

“They're all straight, clean cut wounds. Add with the fact Lee found him in the Digital World I would guess some type of knife or sword wielding Digimon attacked him,” Jou told him.

“Alright… Can you hand the cell phone back to Takeru, please?”

“Yes,” Jou told him and handed the cell phone over to Takeru.

“Are you going to head to the Digital World tomorrow?” Yamato asked Takeru.

“Yeah, I’m going to get Daisuke and the others to go with me which I was going to tell Sora that before we started switching phones around,” Takeru told him.

“Even Kohana?” Yamato asked and Takeru paused as he thought for a moment. There was no doubt that what they would be trying to find would be the other identity that had been inside Shaitanmon. Takeru figured Yamato was worried what would happen if they brought Tsumon along.

“I’ll let her decided that. With how we helped Tsumon there shouldn’t be any way for him to be taken over again…” Takeru told his brother.

“Alright just be careful,” Yamato told him.

“I will Yamato tell Sora I said thank you and I’ll talk to you both later,” Takeru said.

“I will. See you tomorrow Takeru,” Yamato said then hung Sora’s cell phone up.

Takeru hung his up as well as he closed it then set it down on top of his desk. “I take it Sora will be coming over tomorrow?” Jou asked looking at him.

“Yes she’ll most likely be here sometime after I leave for school,” Takeru told him.

Natsuko walked into the bedroom glancing at Trace before looking at Jou. “Jou will you be staying for dinner?” she asked.

Jou shook his head. “No I need to be heading home now. I still have some research I need to finish before tomorrow,” Jou told her as he stood up.

“Alright thank you for coming over and helping,” Natsuko told him as she headed towards the kitchen.

Jou picked up his messenger bag that held his medical supplies then Gomamon up walking towards the door Takeru following behind him. “Thank you Jou,” Takeru said as Jou sat to trade the slippers he was wearing for his shoes temporarily setting Gomamon back down.

“You’re welcome Takeru. If he does happen to wake up anytime soon make sure he stays in bed and rests. Don’t hesitate to call me if you need me,” Jou told him as he stood up opening the door.

“Alright Jou and thanks again,” Takeru told him. Jou nodded and walked out closing the door behind him.

Takeru turned and began to head towards the living room again as Lee walked out of it. “Will my brother be alright?” Lee asked looking up at him.

Takeru patted him on the head. “He’ll be fine. We just need to make sure he gets plenty of rest,” he told Lee. Lee smiled and went back into the living room Takeru right behind him. Patamon looked up at him from where he was on the floor near Rascmon.

“If he’s not injured Takeru how come he doesn’t wake up?” Patamon asked and this caused both Bearmon and Lee to look at Takeru.

Takeru looked at the fiery dog Digimon thinking on how to answer him. “With the type of body he has Patamon injuries may not show up on him,” Takeru answered walking over and kneeling beside Patamon to look at Rascmon. He had always found it interesting how the Digimon’s coloring didn’t stay in one place but moved with the flames along his body.

Natsuko walked into the living room looking at them before speaking, “Dinner’s ready.”

Takeru glanced at his mother then back down at the dog like Digimon before he stood up picking Patamon up before he was standing straight up. He then followed his mother, Lee and Bearmon into the dining area.

~*~*~*~*~

After dinner Takeru had set up another futon in his bedroom for Lee and Bearmon to share at their request. Takeru had set one up for him as well and had asked his mother to wake him up instead of setting his alarm clock like usual. His mother had dug out some of Takeru’s older cloths for the young boy to wear to bed as well as to change into after he bathed, but they were still slightly big on him. Lee had almost instantly fallen asleep when he had lain down and Bearmon wasn’t too far behind him. It took longer for Patamon, but after awhile he too fell asleep. Takeru however, he was still awake lying on his back staring at the ceiling. He was worried and a tad bit scared at the same time….

He knew that most likely what had attacked Trace was Red. Red’s main target had been himself and Patamon when they had first faced him, but from what Takeru had understood it was because of the game coding that had corrupted Tsumon when he was still in his egg the first time he was born. This had resulted in the birth of twin Digimon Tsumon and Calilimon and what eventually allowed Red to hide himself within Tsumon’s body.

Later on, he would take it over completely when Tsumon had evolved into his adult stage. The data that had been meant for one Digimon had been split between the twins leaving openings in their coding for something like Red to make use of. Red had been forced for the most part to play out the role of the game character his and Tsumon’s appearance was based after. Takeru was the best fit in Red’s opinion of the boy character in the game that he was supposed to attack. They had only been able to stop and save Tsumon because Calilimon had willing sacrificed herself so her data could be given to her brother which forced him to convert back to a digital egg forcing Red out of his body.

There were things though… Things that Red has said while he was attacking Takeru and Patamon that Takeru had at the time just brushed to the side believing Red was insane. At the time, however, he didn’t know Red existed so he really thought Shaitanmon was insane. After what Lee had shown him when they first meet he should have thought on it more instead he had just thought Lee was trying to warn him that there was a chance the battle wasn’t going to be over with the defeat of Shaitanmon. Takeru was however wrong. It had been a warning that the fight would continue. What had Takeru worried was there was a good chance him and Patamon would be targeted once again.

If there was the chance of that then with Red still in possession of Trace’s key there was also a chance Red would once again appear in Takeru’s dreams, well really more a nightmare, and try to harm him. It had only happened once last time because Takeru had stopped sleeping once he figured out it could happen again. He was afraid of falling asleep and finding himself once again caught in one of those nightmares. The reason he was worried, however, was because they had only been able to beat Red because of Calilimon’s sacrifice. He knew his worry was unreasonable, though, because Omegamon, Imperialdramon Fighter Mode, and Ofanimon had almost beaten Shaitanmon, but had been called back because of something that had happened at the time that had made Taichi and several of the other Chosen Children involved uneasy about beating him. Then again Red would not be Shaitanmon this time so there was always the chance that they couldn’t beat him.

Sighing, Takeru rolled onto his side and closed his eyes deciding that risking sleep at the moment would probably be the best. It was a slim chance if anything that his nightmares would be invaded again and having just started his first year of high school he didn’t want to somehow get in trouble. However, Takeru’s body seemed to disagree with him for he found it impossible to fall asleep. The teen gave up completely when the sun began to rise and he kicked the blanket of himself and slowly climbed off the futon not wanting to wake Patamon up. Takeru carefully walked around his room to retrieve his black high school uniform from the closet. With uniform in hand he walked to the bathroom to change into it.

Takeru glanced up in the mirror as he straightened the arms of the jacket out leaving it unbuttoned. He was happy to see that it wasn’t easy to tell by looking at him that he had missed a night’s sleep. The thought made him paused in what he was doing as he realizes something. Eyes narrowing, he quickly finished putting his uniform on then ran a comb through his hair before leaving the bathroom heading for his room again. Once again he carefully walked through his room grabbing a flashlight from his desk drawer before heading over to his bed. Once there he clicked the flashlight on shining the light at Trace’s face.

Takeru knew for a fact that Trace avoided sleep like the plague because the older teen never had normal dreams like anyone else all he ever had was nightmares. It had resulted in black circles under his eyes that would take more than a day’s rest to get them to vanish. When the light hit Trace’s face, however, the dark circles where completely gone. He knew Trace would only have slept if he had been forced to by the injuries he had sustained, but they couldn’t be very old or Trace most likely would have bled to death. _Something is off here,_ Takeru thought to himself as he took as step back.

Takeru walked back over to the futon he had shared with Patamon and kneeled down next to the small Digimon. Carefully he shook the small Digimon and when Patamon awoke he put a finger to his mouth telling him to remain quite. Patamon nodded as Takeru picked him up but it was plain that was he was confused as to why Takeru had done this. The teen headed for the living room closing the bed room door behind him. Once in the living room he sat down on the couch. “Takeru, what’s wrong?” Patamon asked believing he had only been told to be quiet to prevent him from waking Lee up.

“Something is bugging me… Can you evolve into Holy Angemon for me?” he asked.

Patamon blinked and looked around him. He had never evolved into Holy Angemon in the apartment before, but he had evolved into Angemon and there wasn’t a big difference in size between the two so it should be fine. “Alright,” Patamon said moving to stand on the floor in front of Takeru before evolving into his Perfect from instantly noticing the one difference between the two forms that mattered. He could easily move his wings as either Angemon or Holy Angemon to where they weren’t touching the ceiling of the apartment, but he found he had to bend slightly as his waist and knees to keep the larger helmet of Holy Angemon from scraping the ceiling. “This might have not been a very good idea…” Holy Angemon commented standing still for a moment.

“You’ll be able to devolve soon I just need you to try Holy Disinfection on Rascmon,” Takeru told him.

Holy Angemon glanced at Rascmon before turning his attention back to Takeru. “You do not think he’s asleep by natural caused do you?” he asked.

Takeru shook his head. “No I don’t think so… Thinking back on what Lee had said about trying for awhile to look into both Trace and Rascmon’s memories and unable to see anything makes it seem strange that he suddenly can see Rascmon’s. It’s almost too convenient,” Takeru explained and Holy Angemon nodded in agreement.

“Then why not try Trace first?” Holy Angemon asked.

“Jou says he needs rest and he won’t once he wakes up. Rascmon also appears to be uninjured so the best one to try it out on would be him,” Takeru told him.

Once again Holy Angemon nodded and turned his attention to Rascmon stating, “Holy Disinfection.” A soft light appeared around Rascmon and after awhile the light disappeared. Slowly the fiery dogs eyelids began to move as if having a dream, but then he opened them looking around him until he spotted Holy Angemon and Takeru lifting his head up.

“Child of Hope…” Rascmon almost questioned quite confused and disoriented at the moment. The fiery Digimon shook his head and looked at them again. When they had not vanished he believed them to be real. “How did I get here?” he asked them.

“Lee found you and Trace in the Digital World and brought you here, “Takeru explained as Holy Angemon took the opportunity to devolve back to Patamon.

Rascmon changed into a sitting position. “Lee? He shouldn’t even be able to leave his own realm without the help of Trace or one of his sisters how did he managed to get to the Digital World?” he questioned glancing around in attempt to find the boy.

“According to him he just copied what Trace always does and managed to do it. He did end up fainting because of it, though,” Takeru told him.

Rascmon slowly nodded his head turning his attention to Takeru again. “You said Lee found Trace as well?” he asked.

Takeru nodded. “Yeah, he’s in my room right now… Why do you ask?” Takeru wondered as he looked at his bed room door.

“That’s because the last time I lay eyes on Trace he was forcibly being dragged away from me by a Wendimon,” Rascmon answered and Takeru stood at that heading for his bedroom door opening it up. Carefully he walked into the room and over to the bed. Patamon followed Takeru into the room though Rascmon, who was slightly unstable on his legs at the moment, followed at a slower pace. Takeru was almost to the bed by the time Rascmon had stepped into the room and as soon as the Digimon did Trace’s eyes shot open as he quickly sat up.

Takeru looked at him and noticed right away that it wasn’t really Trace for his eyes were red instead of the emerald green and ocean blue they normally were. Takeru began to back away but stopped when he felt the hairs on the back of his head and neck began to stand up on end warning him to the electrical barrier that was behind him. Both Patamon and Rascmon dashed towards the bed and before Takeru could warn them they crashed in the barrier being shocked by black electricity. The two Digimon cried out in surprise more than pain and backed up a few steps. Their cries caused both Lee and Bearmon to wake up. Bearmon took one glance around the room before placing himself in front of Lee.

“Trace” laughed leaning back against the wall the head of the bed was pushed against. “I thought this was going to easy,” he commented bending one of his legs to rest an arm on it.

“What have you done to Trace?” Rascmon shouted shifting into a pouncing position as he growled and bared his teeth at the fake Trace.

“Calm down, I can’t exactly harm him without this losing its power,” he deadpanned as he held a black skeleton key in the palm of his hand to show the others. Upon seeing it Takeru quickly lunged at the bed trying to grab the key but he collided into another barrier that was in front of him getting electrocuted much like what had happened to the two Digimon earlier. Unlike them he cried out in pain as he fell to the floor thankfully away from the barrier to where he was no longer touching it.

“Takeru!” Patamon shouted and a flash of light from Takeru’s D-3, which was sitting on Takeru’s desk, caused him to evolve into Holy Angemon. When they had faced such a barrier before he had been able to break it with Excalibur so he allowed the energy sword to extend out and he slashed at the barrier. However, much like what had happened when he had tried once as Angemon the sword hit the barrier and the black electricity tried to travel up the sword to get to Holy Angemon, but the purple gem in the hilt of the sword glowed and the sword shattered before the electricity could touch him.

“Trace” laughed at Holy Angemon and Takeru’s efforts turning to look at the teen who was still lying on the floor. “Did you _really_ think it would be that easy?” he asked.

Takeru glared at him. “It was worth a shot!” he said through gritted teeth as he shifted into a sitting position.

“I thought you wouldn’t even take the chance after how badly your hands where burned the last time you attempted to get past one of my barriers,” he said shrugging. Humans were really confusing creatures in his opinion.

Takeru turned his head when he heard footsteps and spotted his mother in the doorway of his bedroom. She glanced around the room and would have tried to get to Takeru except Rascmon stepped in front of her. “Don’t it is not safe,” Rascmon told her.

“Takeru, are you okay?” she asked as she looked at him.

“Don’t worry I’m fine,” he told her as he stood up. The teen really was fine he hadn’t gotten burned this time, but his body was slightly numb. He turned his attention to the person sitting on his bed. “Why are you here?”

“Do I really have to explain?” he questioned his eyes narrowing slightly.

“So it wasn’t just the game coding that made you want to kill Patamon and me,” Takeru said glaring at him.

The red eyed teen laughed. “I told you I wanted to see what happened once ‘hope’ was gone,” he stated as his form began shifting. The long black hair went short and spiked in several different directions while a white fox masked appeared of his face making his red eyes barely visible. As for his cloths the pants changed into a black hakama while the shirt changed into a red kimono that wasn’t tied shut nor was it tucked into the hakama pants. The piercings in the ears as well as the gloves vanished while long white claw like nails appeared instead of normal ones. As for his skin it was covered in fine black fur all except a nasty looking scar that was in the middle of his chest. At his waist was a black scabbard katana as well as a matching shorter sword called a wakizashi.

He moved to the edge of the bed that was near Takeru and stood up showing he was around the same size as Holy Angemon. When he stood up it made his black tail very visible opposed to when he was on the bed. Takeru once again moved as far back as he could without hitting the barrier behind him. The Digimon glanced at Holy Angemon before walking past the barrier that had separated him and Takeru before slowly walking towards the teen.

However, before he was able to reach Takeru, a wooden door that was rounded at the top appeared behind Takeru. When the door opened up it revealed Bearmon and Lee to be on the other side of it. The two each grabbed one of Takeru’s arms and pulled him through the door. The red eye Digimon quickly rushed at it only to have Bearmon slam it close in his face causing the door to vanish.

Holy Angemon and Rascmon both look to where Lee was a minute ago, but the three don’t reappear there. The red eye Digimon eyes narrowed as another wooden door appeared this one completely black. “I’ll come play later,” he told them as he opened the door with the skeleton key and walked through it.

Holy Angemon turned around looking at Takeru’s desk and opened up the green lap top sitting on it. “Hopefully they just went to the Digital World,” he commented as he woke the lap top up.

“I doubt Lee would chance going anywhere else,” Rascmon stated.

Natsuko shook her head slightly. Takeru had explained the ability of Lee and Trace to her so she wasn’t completely shocked at what had happened, but she was still surprised. She turned her attention to Holy Angemon. “Who was that?” she asked.

Holy Angemon devolved down to Tokamon now that Takeru’s laptop was up and running so Takeru could come back that way. “It’s the personality of Shaitanmon’s that wanted to kill Takeru and me,” he answered as he looked at her.

“I thought you beat him already,” Natsuko said.

“We thought he had as well…. Lee tried to warn Takeru before the last battle that it wouldn’t end there, but we thought with how long it had been it really was over,” Tokamon told her as he sat beside the laptop. This was one mistake the small Digimon would be sure never to repeat.

:: Digital World ::

Takeru fell back onto his butt having been pulled quite forcibly by Lee and Bearmon. He watched as the red eye Digimon tried to reach the door only to have Bearmon slam it shut causing it to vanish. The teen looked at the younger teen and smiled slightly. “Thanks, Lee,” Takeru said as he stood up. Lee slowly nodded and began to fall over as he lost consciousness. He was caught by Takeru before he could hit the ground.

“It’s the same as last time,” Bearmon explained.

Takeru shook his head slightly. “No he opened two doors this time instead of just one… Any way we need to find one of the portals and get back,” Takeru told him as he picked Lee up carrying him bridal style. He didn’t know if it meant anything that the boy had managed to open two doors up this time instead of one, but he found it strange that he could when he had fainted before after only opening one. “Do you have any idea where we are at?”

Bearmon glanced around at the small forest they were in and nodded. “Yeah, this is near where he appeared the first time so we’re close to where I was living at. I know where the closest portal from here is,” Bearmon explained and began to walk as Takeru followed after him. Bearmon looked over at him as they walked. “How did you guy know something was wrong?”

“I didn’t know things where as bad as what they turned out to be… I just thought that their sleep was unnatural was all. I had Holy Angemon use his Holy Disinfection on Rascmon and when he woke up I knew I was right. As for how I knew the sleep wasn’t natural its because Trace hates to sleep and would only sleep if forced to so when the black rings under his eyes were missing I was assuming that he had been asleep longer then what it seemed he had. It was Rascmon who informed us that the last time he had seen Trace he had been pulled away from him. We went to see if it really was Trace, but I guess since Rascmon was awake he knew he couldn’t trick us any longer,” Takeru explained.

Bearmon nodded. “I’m even more glad now that Lee instantly went to your place instead of doing what I suggested which was bringing the two to my home,” Bearmon stated.

“How did you guys manage to get to my apartment any way?” Takeru asked keeping his attention to where he was going so he didn’t trip.

“When we opened the portal to a random computer the people that lived in the house and their Digimon where more than willing to help us get here… They weren’t, however, willing to make sure that the person who lived in the apartment was willing to take us in or not,” Bearmon explained and Takeru nodded. “How are you guys going to find the real Trace?”

“Well since I have a feeling Lee’s ability to find anything lost isn’t working because his sisters didn’t use it to find Trace and Rascmon in the first place we’ll just have to search the entire Digital World until we find him,” Takeru deadpanned knowing full well that could take weeks even months to do so with how big the Digital World was and it had a tendency of growing larger every once in awhile. Takeru still hadn’t even seen the entire Digital World so he hoped they would be able to find some type of clue to help them out.

“Uh-huh… Has that worked for you guys in the past?” Bearmon asked.

“No when we wanted to find one another we usually just use our D-3’s… we’ll try this time as well, but it only works if you’re within a certain distance of each other,” Takeru sighed already imaging spending most of his afternoons within the Digital World as well as his weekends. He knew the Digimon had a tendency of not waiting to be found. He would seek out his opponents himself, but Takeru highly doubted that he would bring Trace along with him. The teen was also worried about what Rascmon had told him how Trace had been dragged away by a Wendimon. It seemed this time the fox-masked Digimon wasn’t working alone…


	2. Chapter Two The Search Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copy righted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it’s Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copyright for it.
> 
> Alright I have twenty chapters in total written and almost all of them are ready to post. The Fan-Fiction isn't finished being written yet and I think for now updates will be when I get them done or one week apart. Meaning if I get another chapter edited and ready to post tomorrow I'll post one up but if I don't get anymore done I'll be sure to get one up in a week. Please enjoy.

“ _Uh-huh… Has that worked for you guys in the past?” Bearmon asked._

“ _No when we wanted to find one another we usually just use our D-3’s… we’ll try this time as well, but it only works if you’re within a certain distance of each other,” Takeru sighed already imaging spending most of his afternoons within the Digital World as well as his weekends. He knew the Digimon had a tendency of not waiting to be found but seeking out his opponents himself, but Takeru highly doubted that he would bring Trace along with him. The teen was also worried about what Rascmon had told him how Trace had been dragged away by a Wendimon. It seemed this time the fox-masked Digimon wasn’t working alone…_

The red eyed Digimon walked through a maze of underground tunnels while ignoring the various Digimon he walked past much to their happiness. He had a nasty tendency of playing with them when he was in a foul mood and that was more often than not. No on here liked to play his games if they where the center of it. Not that he was in one right now, a foul mood that was, even if Blondie and Angel Boy had managed to survive another day. At the moment it was much more fun to let this go on for as long as possible. What fun would there be if this all ended to quickly? He just had to make sure to keep things interesting to keep himself from getting bored. Otherwise he would be tempted to finish this up as soon as he could which would ruin all the plans he had made this time around. Yes he had plans and he was going to make full use of them.

Anyway, the cave system he walked through was one he had taken over from a colony of Molemon who _had_ lived here. This new form of his for some strange reason liked the idea of being underground and why should he go through the task of digging his own place out when he could just kill the current residences of one and take it over? Which is exactly what he did once they did everything he wanted them to do including adding a very large dungeon… Not that he had a need for a large one, but he still wanted it and he made sure to get what he wanted. After all if he was going to have one made by some slaving Digimon he might as well have them make it a big one.

The dungeon was where he was headed to right now. Several twists, turns, and descending tunnels finally lead him to the tunnel that would end in a cavern. The dungeon was three levels all together built into the back of it. At the moment there was only one cell that had anything inside of it and he walked towards it a smirk on his face that was hidden beneath the fox mask he wore. At least with the mask on some of his more insane expressions couldn’t be seen. They had a tendency of chasing Digimon and humans away before he could really do what he wanted to them.

“So you failed, eh Kitsumon?” the occupant in the cell taunted when he approached. Taunting was about all they could do right now.

Kitsumon ignored the taunt. He hadn’t really failed in his opinion since it had been more of a learning experience. For example, he didn’t know that the little brat could open more than one doorway at a time not to mention he now knew that Angel Boy couldn’t break his barriers at his perfect stage anymore. Yes he had learned a couple of interesting things on his little… outing. Speaking of the brat… “I meet your little brother today,” the red-eyed Digimon told the occupant of the cell.

The person inside of the cell moved closer to the cell bars to where he was no longer within the shadows. The occupant of the cell was indeed Tracy Lance Star, Lee’s older brother, and little had changed about him in the five months that had passed. The teen hadn’t grown anymore which Trace had already decided he had reached the extent of his growth spurt as it was before he had been locked up in here. His black hair that had the dyed electric blue highlights in it was, not surprisingly, longer than it once was now reaching past his waist. Due to the fact it had grown longer it was now easier to tell that the highlights where indeed dyed because his roots where showing. The new length wasn’t his choice either Kitsumon seemed to think it was funny to deny him getting his hair cut.

This had resulted in his bangs being longer than normal because they now almost covered his eyes completely. It didn’t really matter that they did because Kitsumon had put this weird black band over his eyes to prevent him from seeing anything. Also, much to Trace’s shock, his ability to destroy everything did not work on it and he had tried for an entire day once to no avail. Trace wanted to blame it on the effects the Digital World had on his abilities, but the fact was he _had_ used his ability in the Digital World in the past. This made Trace very curious as to what the black band was made out of not to mention the cell bars which were made out of the same material otherwise Trace wouldn’t still be in this cell. The entire cell was actually made out of the stuff much to his annoyance.

Kitsumon had allowed Trace to keep the multiple piercings he had in each ear as well as the barbell piercing above his right eyebrow. However, the teen had been forced to change his cloths slightly after a month of being in here. Much to Kitsumon’s annoyance he had learned the hard way that Trace couldn’t feel either heat or cold resulting in the teen getting sick with how cold it could get in the cells. This had caused the power of the key to drop significantly thus Kitsumon made sure it wouldn’t happen again by forcing Trace to wear a dark blue turtle neck sweater as well as switching out his normal black fingerless gloves with the two belts on each arms with one similar in design, but they had fingers. His black baggy pants had remained even though the turtle neck sweater now hid the multiple belts he wore around his waist. The steel tip boots he also wore remained as well. The one thing that had really annoyed Trace about this entire confinement thing was that as soon as he had been captured Kitsumon had forcibly removed Trace’s MP3 player. The fact he had been separated from Rascmon worried him more than annoyed him. He only hoped his friend was alright…

“If he’s the reason you failed I really got to buy that game system he wants,” Trace commented trying to recall which system it was his brother wanted but couldn’t. He’d have to ask him once he got out of here. With how long he had been in here his allowance in his bank account should have piled up so he had no doubt about being able to afford it. It also made him wonder if his uncle had realized by now that something had happened to him. He hoped not because when he did get free he didn’t want to listen to one of his lectures. They where very long not always boring but always long.

Kitsumon shrugged and said nonchalantly, “He only bought them more time.”

Trace stared at Kitsumon for a moment trying to figure out if he was being serious and when he realized he was Trace burst out laughing. It took him a bit before he was able to stop so he could actually speak without gasping and looking like an idiot in the process. “Like hell! You couldn’t fucking beat them the first time around and you won’t this time either!” Trace shouted at him. Without much warning black electricity surrounded Trace and he cried out in pain. When the electricity vanished he fell to the ground.

“The only reason I lost last time was because you and your siblings interfered!” Kitsumon shouted at him his eyes narrowing slightly. If he wasn’t needed to keep the key working Kitsumon would probably have killed him by now.

“You are fucking delusional! They would have won without our help,” he told him in between breaths as he waited for his body to stop feeling numb so he could sit up. One of these days he would learn taunting an evil Digimon wasn’t that smart of an idea, but he already knew Kitsumon wouldn’t kill him because of the fact he couldn’t use the key without him. Of course it didn’t stop him from randomly shocking him and the only reason Kitsumon didn’t shock him again was because he didn’t want to take any chances at the moment now that the Chosen Children knew he was indeed still around.

Of course, Kitsumon knew more than one way to harm someone. There was physical pain which he was limited to just how much he could inflect on the teen in front of him and then there was mental which didn’t seem to affect the key what-so-ever so he could do as much as he wanted. “Tell me Trace, how does it feel to murder someone?” he asked. The fox Digimon grinned when he saw Trace flinch away from him almost as if he had been slapped. This really was a touchy subject for the teen as he fully knew after having him in here for over four months.

“I didn’t murder her,” he mumbled as he pushed himself into a sitting position. With the way his shoulders were slumped and his focus was on the ground he knew that Trace himself didn’t fully believe that statement. He had before he had come here but with how long Kitsumon had used this against him he had begun to doubt it.

“True Digimon can’t really be murdered. Besides it was more like an assisted suicide any ways,” he said in a matter of fact way.

Trace’s head snapped up as he glared at the red-eyed Digimon his fist clenched tightly. “I didn’t kill her!” he shouted.

Kitsumon’s eyes narrowed as he began to speak, “Oh don’t try to fool me Trace! It may be called “erasing” or “deleting” a Digimon rather than killing them, but the results are the same. They cease to exist!”

Trace lowers his head slightly and tried to argue, “Digimon can be reborn-“

Kitsumon interrupted him however, “Which you made sure she couldn’t be! Rascmon said it best didn’t he? That she literally surrendered her very essence to you in order to save her brother! Just how can she be reborn when there is nothing left of her?” Trace looked away from him causing Kitsumon to grin because he knows he has won for now but before leaving he decided to inflect even more damage to the human. “I wonder how the Chosen Children would react if I told them the truth about Calilimon? You know the truth you decided to hide from them…” This caused Trace to flinch again and Kitsumon left now in an even better mood then when he arrived.

:: Elsewhere in Digital World ::

By the time they had arrived at the TV portal Bearmon knew of Takeru had realized there might be a slight problem with returning right away. His D-3 still sat on his desk in his room in the Real World so unless Lee had his Digivice in his pockets they’d have to wait until someone realized they didn’t have a way to come back. “Bearmon did Lee happen to grab his Digivice before coming here?” he asked turning his attention to the bear Digimon.

Bearmon shook his head. “No he didn’t… And you don’t have your D-3 do you?” Bearmon asked as he realized what Takeru was getting at while he glanced at the TV portal.

Takeru sighed and gently laid Lee down on the grass near the TV portal. “No I don’t… I guess we have to wait until the others realize that we can’t get back,” Takeru said as he sat down next to Lee. Bearmon nodded and sat beside Takeru.

“Do you think Trace is alright?” Bearmon asked looking at Takeru. Bearmon of course didn’t know Trace, but he did know how important he was to Lee which made him worry for him as well. Especially after his first encounter with the very insane fox Digimon.

Takeru leaned back onto his hands before answering the Digimon, “I believe he is… Red has never really shown an interest in anyone else besides Patamon and me. He probably is just trying to use him as bait to get us…” Takeru told him but he was also worried. Being held captive by Red as long as Trace had couldn’t be good for anyone.

Bearmon sighed and looked at Lee. “From what Lee told me of him can you really expect him to stick to the same pattern this time around?” Bearmon asked as he looked at Takeru.

Takeru had in fact been wondering the same thing especially since Jou had told him about what the news had reported last evening. He seemed to be spreading out who he was after this time and it worried Takeru. If he was indeed now targeting random people there was a good chance that things would get a lot worse then they had last time. There was already proof that he was stronger than last time because of Holy Angemon no longer being able to break his barrier. This was worrisome because the last time they had fought Red him and Seraphimon had been equal in power.

They weren’t sure about this, but the Chosen Children believed Seraphimon was stronger than Omegamon like Imperialdramon Paladin Mode was. They were currently unsure of where the angelic Digimon stood when it came to Imperialdramon Paladin Mode though. Takeru believed that there was a good chance if Seraphimon could still reach Guardian Mode that he could fight equally against Imperialdramon Paladin Mode, but of course they would never actually try it. The Chosen Children had just been trying to figure out just how powerful they were with their Digimon because Taichi had to give a report to the UN on it. If they had been right in their guesses as of right now the only one who might have a chance against him would be Imperialdramon Paladin Mode and he had proved last time he wasn’t a Digimon you wanted to fight on your own.

“No, sadly I can’t…” Takeru told him and Bearmon nodded.

It was almost an hour, by Takeru’s estimate, before Yamato, Iori, Metal Garurumon, and Armadimon showed up. At their arrival Yamato tossed Takeru’s D-3 to him and Takeru caught it after almost dropping it. “I’m surprised Patamon isn’t with you,” Takeru said as the three climbed off Metal Garurumon’s back and he stored his D-3 in his uniform pocket.

“Tokamon wanted to come, but I thought it would be best for him to wait at your apartment in case you did suddenly show up,” Yamato told him.

“Tokamon… I was hoping he didn’t devolve to him with how little time he spent as Holy Angemon,” Takeru told him.

“No such luck there,” Yamato said as he glanced at the now devolved Gabumon. How much time they spent in their forms never really factored into how far their Digimon devolved to. The only thing that counted was how much power they used and with Tokamon evolving into Holy Angemon twice in one day his power reserves had been eaten through.

“We can head back in a minute I need to send a message to the others to let them know that we found you,” Iori told Takeru his D-terminal already in hand as he typed a message out on it. While Iori sent the message Yamato picked Lee up.

“Did Tokamon tell you everything that had happened?” Takeru asked as Iori put his D-terminal up and walked over to the TV portal to open a portal up.

“No your mother set out a mass e-mail explaining what had happened. When you didn’t come back right away she sent another one asking us to try and find you. She also said Tokamon had set the laptop up before he devolved so we are able to just go straight to your apartment,” Iori explained. Takeru nodded as he stood up then all of them went through the portal.

Once they arrived at the apartment Yamato gently laid Lee down on Takeru’s bed. Rascmon, who was waiting for them by Takeru’s desk, wondered over to the bed to look at Lee. “His brother and sisters will be proud of him when they learned what he did today,” he told the others with a dog smile.

Iori looked over at Rascmon. “It was a trap set up for him wasn’t it?” he asked. It was set up to nicely for it not to be one.

Rascmon nodded and sighed, “Sadly, yes. Lee would be the only one that would fall for it…” Of course even with how nicely it had been set up it would have been easy enough to figure out something was wrong. Lee was known to panic easily when it came to his siblings well being. The only reason Takeru didn’t figure it out sooner was because he was too busy feeling guilty for not trying harder to find Trace.

“How could he have known that Lee could leave his own realm?” Tokamon asked.

“The key’s have the ability to gauge the power of the others that are holding them. No doubt one time while Lee slept he paid him a visit and noticed he had enough power to open one up,” Rascmon explained.

Yamato took a few steps away from the bed and leaned against the wall crossing his arms across his chest. “Just what all can these key’s do? I mean now that we have to face one yet again I think it would be best that we know so we don’t get surprised by anything,” Yamato stated as he looked at Rascmon.

“I don’t know all of what they can do because Trace has never used all of his key’s abilities around me before. You’ve already seen some of the things they are capable of doing such as opening the doors to other realms as well as, in Trace’s key’s case, entering someone’s nightmares. Trace also stated before he has used his key to manipulate people’s nightmares once he has entered them, but unlike Red he has never actually harmed someone in them before. I think this is mainly because Trace has never tried to before not to mention I don’t think he is quite powerful enough yet to do it. The keys can also be used to manipulate one’s own realm such as making the tree’s move to where one wants it

“An interesting thing they can do is open any lock that they come upon except ones that are placed by their older sister Krista or ones within certain realms that restrict their power like the Digital World does. The only other thing I know they can do is grow to the size of a staff and deflect some attacks but not any from Digimon. I saw Trace do that once when Luna and him where sparring. She sent a blast of energy at him and he deflected it with the key,” Rascmon explained.

“Have you figured out how he’s able to harm people in their nightmares?” Takeru asked noticing how Rascmon seemed to hint at he did with what he had said.

Rascmon nodded stating, “Trace believes he does.” He then thought for a moment before going into further detail, “Like I just said I believe it’s because Trace has never tried nor does he have the power to do so, but Trace believes it’s because unlike him and his siblings who can only open up gate ways within the Digital World Red has full access to the key’s abilities. Somehow instead of the Digital World working against him it is in fact aiding him in ways the siblings never have been. Trace believes this is because he is a Digimon and thus the rules of the Digital World aren’t there to restrict him, but are there, in fact, to promote his growth…”

“If that’s true there is no telling just what all he can do with the key,” Iori pointed out.

Rascmon nodded his head in agreement. “Yes you are right, but we are lucky in that he only has that ability in the Digital World. Any other realm not counting the nightmare realm he is restricted like the siblings are within the Digital World,” Rascmon told them.

Takeru thought about the things that had happened the last time they had faced Red then recalled something and spoke up, “What about the realm he dragged Kohana into?” This causes the others to look at him. He had of course told Yamato what had happened to Kohana, but he hadn’t told anyone else leaving it up to Kohana to decide if she did or not. Not to mention Kohana hadn’t gone into very much detail about what had happened until a while later and so even Yamato might not know about it.

“When Shaitanmon, or Red, did the nightmare trick on me there was nothing around us it was just completely blank. However, when he did it to Kohana, she told me that she found herself within a redwood forest much like the ones she has seen when she would visit her grandparents in the United States,” he explained.

“Since I myself have never been there I cannot be certain if he can use the key’s power fully there or not. It is possible that this realm is where he originated from or Shaitanmon, not Red mind you, could have picked it because of the fact it is connected to Kohana’s grandparents. From what I remember Kohana’s mother designed the game character Shaitanmon is based off of and it would be her parents that live near the redwood forests,” Rascmon told him.

“Would it be possible for Lee to take us there? If it really is like you said the place Red originated from then we might find some clue as to how we can beat him,” Yamato asked as he glanced at the sleeping boy.

Rascmon sighed, “I do not know… If it was Lee from six months ago I would have told you no. He was not powerful enough to open a portal to anywhere but his sibling’s realms the last time I saw him. Lee is getting stronger every day so it may be possible. We will have to wait until he wakes up to ask him.”

“There is something else that has me worried…” Iori started.

“Does it have something to do with last night’s news?” Takeru asked and Iori nodded.

“Last night’s news?” Yamato asked. Since he had been on a date with Sora that night he had not seen it.

“Jou told me about it when he came over yesterday. He said that the news reported that people going to hospitals to have injuries tended to are claiming they happened while they were asleep,” Takeru told him.

“It explained further that when professionals tried to disprove their claims saying that it most likely happened while they were sleep walking the people involved either claimed that there was nothing in their home that could cause the injury or when they awoke they were still in bed. The last claim isn’t a very good one since one can return to bed while sleep walking, but it’s the first one that really drew my attention to it,” Iori clarified as he looked at Yamato.

“If the news was reporting on it doesn’t that mean it had to be going on for awhile now?” Gabumon asked.

“Not necessarily,” Natsuko said having come to check when she heard all the voices in the bed room. “It could mean that someone who was desperate for a story picked it up, but with it being on the evening news I would say your right Gabumon.”

“So now he’s not just targeting Takeru and me anymore,” Tokamon said very worried.

“I hate to say this, but with his personality couldn’t he just be using the others to practice?” Armadimon questioned.

“As much as I don’t like that idea I hope that he is and that he will stop soon. If this continues people are going to look into it and sooner or later they will connect it to a Digimon,” Takeru sighed as he leaned back against his desk.

Natsuko didn’t like the idea of her son being hurt but she did have to agree with him. “Taichi-kun has barely managed to get the UN to calm down to where the Digital World isn’t in any threat. If they find out a Digimon has the ability to harm people while they sleep I have a bad feeling they’ll change their minds,” she said and the others nodded their heads in agreement.

“Are you going to try not sleeping again like you did last time to avoid him?” Iori asked as he looked at Takeru.

Takeru nodded. “I don’t like the idea of doing it with just starting high school, but I don’t see any other way to avoid it,” he told him.

“If we somehow manage to get in contact with Luna then she’ll be able to keep you safe. As long as you stay within the dream realm while asleep he can’t get to you. It wouldn’t work with Trace because of the fact their twins they can somewhat manipulate each other’s realms, but it will work on him,” Rascmon told him.

“The only problem is we don’t know how to get in contact with Luna and none of us even know what she looks like,” Yamato pointed out.

“It would be hard to miss her if you spotted her. She has two different colored eyes like Trace does except they are the exact opposite of his. Not to mention she also has purple highlights in her hair something I have learned walking around Japan with Trace is rare,” Rascmon told them.

“I hope we can find her soon…“ Takeru told him. They continued to discuss things for awhile longer even leaving the room to head for the dining area to eat some breakfast Natsuko made for them. After awhile they feared they would be late for school so they went their different ways.

When Takeru, with Tokamon on top of his head, had reached the high school entrance he spotted Kohana and Tsumon. “I thought you had an early art club meeting today,” Takeru said as he walked over to her.

“It’s already over,” Kohana told him.

“So you’re Tokamon! I’ve never seen you at this form before!” Tsumon exclaimed as he flew over to Takeru picking Tokamon off his head.

Tokamon looked up at him. “Why do you seem so excited to see me in my Baby 2 stage?” Tokamon questioned. It seemed strange to him that he was.

“Because I haven’t seen anyone else from within our group of friends in this stage before not counting myself!” Tsumon told him as he allowed Tokamon to climb onto his head. Normally as Patamon he would have flown over to Tsumon, but as Tokamon Tsumon had to help him up. He then turned to look at Kohana and Takeru. “See you during lunch!” he said and flew off to go meet with the other Digimon.

“He seems excited this morning,” Takeru commented as him and Kohana walked into the school.

“I don’t think he believed it possible for Tokamon and the others to devolve past their child stage,” Kohana explained laughing slightly. Takeru nodded as he walked over to his shoe locker to switch his boots for his indoor shoes while Kohana was already wearing hers. As the two of them walked to class they were joined by Hikari, Daisuke, Miyako and Ken whose parents had allowed him to attend the same school as the others now that he was in high school.

“Tsumon did something last night that has me worried… I wasn’t going to say anything, but when I got the e-mail form Takashi-san I changed my mind,” Kohana told them.

“What did he do?” Hikari asked looking at her.

“He randomly started singing that song he and Red use to sing all the time. When I asked him where he had heard it from he told me he had heard it in a dream one night. I’m afraid that Red may be trying to force him to remember what happened…” Kohana explained.

“Don’t worry Kohana-chan. Rascmon stated when he explained the process of Tsumon’s rebirth that he would have no memories of what had happened,” Miyako told her.

“Even if he does remember somehow I doubt he would suddenly turn evil on you,” Daisuke stated. He really did believe what he said. The angelic Digimon was gentle and kind it was hard for him to imagine him somehow becoming Shaitanmon again.

Kohana shook her head. “That’s not what I am afraid of Daisuke-kun. I’m more afraid of what his reaction would be to what happened to Calilimon,” she told him.

None of the others were quite sure what to say to that. It had been made quite clear to them that Calilimon and Tsumon had been quite close as brother and sister before Red had messed things up. If he did remember everything he would also remember what he had done to Kohana, Takeru, and Patamon. The angelic Digimon would not be happy at all with what he had done and there was no telling just how he would react if he did somehow recall everything.

It was Ken who finally broke the silence, “Most likely he’ll be sad about what has happened and even be angry at Red for what he has done. As long as he remembers that everything that happened wasn’t his fault and how hard he tried to stop Red I think he’ll be alright.” Kohana slowly nodded realizing Ken had a good point.

As they continued to head to class the bell rang. Before they could separate to go to their different classes Takeru spoke up, “Can you help me search the Digital World after school for some sign of Trace?”

“Do you really have to ask?” Daisuke said smiling.

“We’re a lot busier now then we use to be so yes, Daisuke I do,” he said looking at the goggle-head but he was smiling as well knowing what Daisuke really meant.

“I’ll most likely be late because I already promised my parents I would help them tend to the store, but besides that yes I can help,” Miyako told him.

“Does your D-terminal work yet?” Ken asked Takeru.

“Not yet and I’m beginning to think it never will. Even Andromon couldn’t find anything wrong with it. You won’t have to worry about that though Iori has already said he’d be able to come and help after school,” Takeru told them.

“I can come to I don’t have anything going on after school,” Hikari told him.

“Same here,” Daisuke stated.

“What about you Kohana?” Takeru asked looking at her.

“I don’t have anything either since mom will be home to watch Katsu,” Kohana told him. Katsu was Kohana’s younger brother who was born near the end of last year. She had spent more than one afternoon at home watching him for her parents who worked at a gaming company.

“I’ll send out a text message to the others to see if they can help out as well,” Daisuke told him as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket.

Ken shook his head and grabbed Daisuke by the back of his school uniform dragging him down the hall way. “Do it during lunch! Otherwise you’re going to be late for class!”

Takeru watched Ken drag Daisuke for a moment before he followed them to class Hikari and Kohana close behind while Miyako went to the floor for the second years. Nothing really happened for the rest of the school day except Daisuke almost getting in trouble during one class for ignoring Ken’s advice about waiting until lunch to send the text message out to the others. He had only managed to keep his cell phone when he mentioned it was an emergency dealing with the Digital World. Even then he got a warning that if the teacher saw his cell phone again he would confiscate it. Daisuke wisely kept his cell phone out of sight of the teacher.

After school let out, Takeru and the others headed for one of the schools computer rooms after switching back into their outdoor shoes. As they walked Daisuke was reading the text messages he had gotten for the others.

“Koushirou says he’ll be over as soon as he can he’s just has to tell his club he won’t be there and Jou says he can’t because he has classes,” Daisuke explained.

“Is my brother coming?” Hikari asked as she glanced at Daisuke’s cell phone.

“Yep he doesn’t have any more classes for the day. Yamato says he’s coming to help as well,” Daisuke told them.

“My brother? I thought he was going to help Sora watch Lee at my apartment,” Takeru said while he looked at Daisuke.

Daisuke closed his cell phone as he looked at Takeru. “He said in the text that he doubts that anything will happen now and Sora will also join us once your mother gets home,” Daisuke answered.

Once they arrived at the computer lap they waited for the others to show so they could figure out what exactly they were going to do. Iori was the first to arrive since the middle school he was attending was close followed by Taichi, Yamato, and Koushirou. “Anyone have any good ideas on how to do this? The Digital World isn’t exactly small,” Daisuke pointed out while he looked around at the others.

“We’ll obviously have to split up, but in ways that if we do somehow run into Red we won’t be in danger and have a quick way to escape,” Taichi told him.

“So then it’ll be easy… Daisuke and Ken can go to the northern part of the Server Continent and see if they can find anything there while Taichi and Yamato go the newer continent that the armor eggs were found on. Takeru, Iori and Kohana can go to File Island since it’s the smallest place and with Armadimon unable to fly it should make it easier for them to get around. As for Hikari and me we can go to the southern half of the Server Continent,” Koushirou told them.

“Which leaves Miyako and Sora and neither of their Digimon are capable of evolving to their Ultimate stages,” Yamato told him.

“They should be okay as longs as they don’t try to fight. The armor stage of Miyako’s and the other Digimon are like our Perfect stages. If they do happen to run into Red all they will have to do is run. They can help you and Taichi explore the other continent so if something does happen the two of you can get over to them real quick to help them,” Koushirou told him.

“Here you’ll need this if that does happen,” Ken said while he handed Yamato his D-terminal. His wasn’t special as the others so he really didn’t need it as long as he was with Daisuke and since neither Yamato nor Taichi had one they would have to borrow one. Yamato for now used his cell phone to text message Sora to let her know what she was suppose to do once she was free.

“Any more questions before we leave?” Taichi asked and the others shook their heads no. “Alright then let’s go,” he said walking over to one of the computers Yamato following him as well as their Digimon. Each group went to their own computer and pulled a portal up to the area’s they were supposed to explore. Once Iori got the portal up him, Takeru and Kohana held up their D-3’s and Digivices to it transporting to the Digital World.

Once they arrived Takeru looked around noticing they had arrived in the exact area the first group meet up the first time they had arrived within the Digital World. “I haven’t been here in a long time,” Takeru commented as he looked around.

“It’s the only place on File Island that has a portal to it,” Iori told him and Takeru nodded his head.

“Were do we go first?” Kohana asked looking around as well.

Iori was about to say something when in a flash of light Tokamon evolved back up to Patamon. “That will make getting around easier. How about we start at Infinity Mountain? We can see a lot of File Island from there I believe,” Iori told them.

“We should be able to,” Patamon told them.

“Since we don’t have to worry about being knocked down from here it shouldn’t take us to long to get there,” Takeru told them.

“Sorry that I can’t fly,” Armadimon told them as they began to walk towards Infinity Mountain.

“It’s not your fault Armadimon,” Tsumon told him as he walked behind the others so he could look around without one of them running into him if he suddenly stopped. “Besides couldn’t I evolve to my Adult form and Patamon to his armor form and get there that way?” he asked as he continued to look around. This caused everyone to pause and to turn to look at him.

“He can evolve?” Takeru asked looking at Kohana.

“If he can he never told me before,” Kohana said looking at Takeru then back to Tsumon.

Tsumon looked at the others. “I should right? I’ve been a child for over three months now,” he told them.

Patamon landed on Tsumon’s head and looked down at him. “You’re forgetting something Tsumon. The first time you evolve has to be to keep your partner safe so most likely you can’t yet,” Patamon told him.

Tsumon looked up at Patamon with his eyes keeping his head still to keep from throwing off the other Digimon. “Then I guess we just walk,” Tsumon said and shrugged as they started walking again.

They managed to reach the base of Infinity Mountain after half an hour of walking. It took them a bit longer to reach a point on the mountain to where they could actually look around. “Everything seems normal form here,” Tsumon called down to them from higher up on the mountain.

“It does here as well,” Takeru said as he glanced up at Tsumon and Patamon since he was still sitting on the Angelic Digimon’s head.

“Should we go talk to the Pyocomon at their village to see if they noticed anything wrong?” Patamon asked as he flew down to the others landing on Takeru’s head.

“Yeah if Primary Village hadn’t relocated to the larger continent I would say we should head there as well,” Takeru said.

“How long do you think it will take us to get there?” Iori asked looking at Takeru.

“It would take a few days actually…” Takeru said glancing at Patamon. “Even if we do have to take a couple of trips it will probably be best if you evolve to Pegasmon and carry us over there,” Takeru told him. Patamon nodded and flew off Takeru’s head so he could evolve to Pegasmon.

As he did that Tsumon flew down landing beside Armadimon. “When Pegasmon flies over there the first time I can carry you over there,” Tsumon told him and Armadimon nodded.

Pegasmon landed beside Takeru. “Who should I take over first?” he asked.

“Take Kohana and Iori over first since both their Digimon will be staying over there,” Takeru told him.

“Is it really a good idea to leave you here by yourself?” Iori asked walking over to him.

“It should be fine. Nothing has happened on File Island since we beat Devimon the island is too small for most evil Digimon to be interested in it,” Takeru told him.

“Alright,” Iori said as he and Kohana walked over to Pegasmon. Kohana after being advised by Hikari had started wearing shorts under her black school uniform skirt for cases such as this. She climbed onto Pegasmon’s back then helped Iori onto his back. Before he flew off he waited for Tsumon to pick Armadimon up and once the angelic Digimon had a good hold on him the two flew off towards the Pyocomon village.

As he waited for Pegasmon to return Takeru sat down on the ground looking up at the peak of Infinity Mountain. In all honesty Takeru would have liked to have avoided this mountain not having very many fond memories of it. He was more than happy when Pegasmon came back and it was his turn to head over to the Pyocomon village. By the time they arrived there Kohana and Iori where already speaking to the Pyocomon. When Pegasmon landed outside of the village Takeru climbed down off his back and walked over to the others.

“It’s been awhile since you where last here!” One of the Pyocomon commented as Takeru walked into the village.

“It has been awhile sorry about that,” Takeru told them.

“How is Piyomon doing?” The Pyocomon asked.

“She’s doing just fine,” Takeru told them as he smiled. Patamon flew over to him landing on Takeru’s head after devolving from Pegasmon.

Iori walked over to Takeru and Patamon. “They haven’t seen anything strange happening lately,” Iori told him.

“They also say that the other Digimon who have come to the village say everything is fine,” Kohana told them as she walked over to them.

“Then at least we know this part of the island is safe, but we still have some areas to check. I doubt we’ll be able to check the entire island today,” he told them.

“Where should we go then?” Armadimon asked looking at Takeru.

“Since we have to go back to the starting point to be able to get back to the real world why don’t we go back towards the starting point from here?” Patamon suggested.

“You’ll have to fly us up the cliff unless there is some type of path leading up there now which I doubt. I doubt we’ll even make it past the lake before night time hits and we have to go back,” Takeru told him and Patamon nodded. “We’ll have to go through a desert to get back to the starting point, but at least this time we know where to head,” Takeru told the others.

They all said goodbye to the Pyocomon and started out for the desert. Takeru was glad that this time heading through it was by their own choice not because they had to. Out of all of them only Tsumon was really interested in the desert they were walking through until he became hot from flying around them. Then the angelic Digimon just wanted to reach the lake Takeru had mention and was sticking to walking beside Kohana. It was almost sundown by the time they had reached the forest with all the weird signs.

“Nothing about the Digital World is normal, is it?” Kohana asked.

“It wouldn’t be the Digital World if it was,” Tsumon told her as he read the signs as they walked past them.

“The only thing really normal about it most of the time is the bodies of water, but even then you can’t guarantee they will be,” Takeru told her.

As Takeru had predicted they reached the lake just as night time had come and as soon as he saw it Tsumon ran for the water only to be stopped by Kohana grabbing his arm. “No Tsumon, if we were heading straight home instead of the school I would let you, but I don’t want to have to clean water out of the computer lab,” she told him as she let go of him.

“Alright,” Tsumon said pouting slightly.

“Should we go ahead and start heading back?” Iori asked.

“We might as well, but with how far we still have to go it would be best if we had Pegasmon fly us back to the portal,” Takeru told him as Patamon flew off Takeru’s head so he could evolve into Pegasmon.

Once again it required two trips for Pegasmon to get all the teens to the site of the portal. When they were all there they used the portal to get back to the high school computer room. They weren’t really surprised to see they were the first group to arrive back in the real world. Not too long after they appeared Hikari and Koushirou appeared as well.

“Did you guys find anything?” Hikari asked looking at them.

“No everything was normal,” Kohana told her.

“I didn’t think anything would be wrong with File Island, but it was still worth checking,” Hikari said.

“We’re not done looking around it yet. We still have about two-thirds of the island left to check,” Takeru told her.

“What about you? Did you guys find anything?” Iori asked

“No everything was fine there as well,” Koushirou told him.

After a bit of waiting the others arrived back as well including Miyako and Sora. “I’m guessing by the fact none of us got any e-mails that no one found anything?” Yamato asked as he handed Ken’s d-terminal back to him.

“Nothing out of the ordinary any way,” Miyako told him.

“This is going to take awhile,” Taichi commented as he leaned back against the wall.

“At least the Digital World isn’t as big as the real world,” Daisuke pointed out.

“I guess we meet back here tomorrow as well then,” Sora said sighing.

“Any chance we can get Mimi to help with the search?” Miyako asked.

“Not at the same time as us since she now lives in a different time zone then us, but she might be able to,” Sora told her, “I’ll e-mail her after I get home and ask if she will.”

“We might as well head home then since there is nothing else we can do right now,” Taichi told them and the others agreed.

~*~*~*~*~

When Takeru opened the door to the apartment he was almost tackled by Lee and Bearmon as they came running to greet him. He managed to avoid them by stepping to the side, but that didn’t stop Lee from hugging onto him. The younger teen looked up at him. “Did you find my brother?” he asked.

Takeru looked down at him and sighed. “I’m afraid not Lee. We’ll be looking again tomorrow to see if we can find him,” Takeru told him.

Lee slowly nodded his head as he let go of Takeru. “I hope he’s okay,” Lee said as he went back into the apartment.

“So do I Lee,” Takeru said as he followed him into the apartment.

Since they had not found Trace, Lee spent the rest of the night moping around the apartment despite the best efforts of Patamon and Bearmon. Takeru managed to get him to cheer up slightly by allowing him to borrow his DS Lite. It also served as a way to distract him while Takeru worked on his homework.

After they had all bathed Takeru turned the overhead light off in his room and turned the light on at his desk so he could continue to work on his homework. As for Lee, since the imposter Trace was no longer around, he was laying down on Takeru’s bed since Takeru had told him he could use it for the night. He was of course sharing it with Bearmon and Patamon. Bearmon was lying beside him while Patamon had made a place to sleep at the foot of the bed since Takeru was going to try to stay up for the night.

Takeru glanced over at them for a moment before he turned his attention back to his homework. He really hoped he was going to have to spend no more than a few days not sleeping again. It was hard enough the first time he had to do this...


	3. Chapter Three The Search Continues… Captured?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copy righted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it’s Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copy right for it.

_Since they had not found Trace, Lee spent the rest of the night moping around the apartment despite the best efforts of Patamon and Bearmon. Takeru managed to get him to cheer up slightly by allowing him to borrow his DS Lite. It also served as a way to distract him while Takeru worked on his homework._

_After they had all bathed Takeru turned the overhead light off in his room and turned the light on at his desk so he could continue to work on his homework. As for Lee, since the imposter Trace was no longer around, he was laying down on Takeru’s bed since Takeru had told him he could use it for the night. He was of course sharing it with Bearmon and Patamon. Bearmon was lying beside him while Patamon had made a place to sleep at the foot of the bed since Takeru was going to try to stay up for the night._

_Takeru glanced over at them for a moment before he turned his attention back to his homework. He really hoped he was going to have to spend no more than a few days not sleeping again. It was hard enough the first time he had to do this…_

Takeru sighed as he gathered his homework together in a neat pile. The teen then stood up to grab his messenger bag to put his homework inside of it when he heard a noise behind him. Believing Lee might have woken up for some reason he turned around to see if something was wrong. He was shocked to say the least when it wasn’t Lee, Bearmon or even Patamon laying on his bed but Calilimon, an angelic Digimon, who, much like Tsumonm had six pure white angelic wings. Her long blonde hair had been pulled over one of her shoulders and the sundress she wore was also pure white with a large pocket on the skirt. She was laying on top of his bed covers her eyes closed sleeping quite serenely.

He starred at her for awhile then slowly Takeru walked over to the side of the bed. So slow it was as if he was afraid she would vanish if he moved to quickly and he stared at her in utter disbelieve. “Calilimon?” he questioned as he reached out to her wondering how it was possible for her to even be here.

Before his hand could touch her, her lavender eyes shot open and she grabbed the wrist of his out stretched arm hard enough to make him wince. Slowly she sat up and stared Takeru in the eyes. “Do you not like me Takeru-kun?” she asked tilting her head to the side. The movement caused most of her hair to fall back into its natural position.

Takeru fought the sudden panic he felt in his chest as he tried his best not to try and break free of Calilimon’s grip. Something told him that if he did her grip would most likely only get tighter and it was already tight enough to cause continuous pain. “Why do you ask that? Of course I like you! If it wasn’t for you Patamon would have been erased and I would most likely be dead,” he told her smiling softly despite how wrong this seemed to him. He just needed to reassure her and keep calm obviously something had upset her a part of him argued with the part that screamed this wasn't happening. That she could not be here.

She let go of Takeru’s wrist and took both of his hands in hers with a very gentle grip that helped him push down some of his panic her vice like grip earlier had caused.. She stared intently at Takeru’s hands studying the scars that were upon them. “You fought so hard to try and save Patamon even in a nightmare that you ended up with these upon your hands,” she said as she let go of one of his hands and with her free hand she ran her index finger over some of the scars on the tops of his fingers. “But when it came to me you barely even put up a fight!” she spat as she let his hand go as if just touching him burned her. The angelic Digimon then stood up and walked over to his window staring out of it.

Takeru watched her as she walked towards the window having to turn slightly in order to face her once again. “It was your choice –“ he began only to be interrupted by her.

“ _Did I really have a choice?_ ” She shouted as she turned around glaring at him.

“Trace gave you one Calilimon! Either you lived and Tsumon died or Tsumon lived and you died!” he shouted at her getting a bit edgy because of what was going on. This reminded him to much of the arguments he had with himself after what had happened to her. Arguments that he never won and always felt empty about for the rest of the day.

“And if Tsumon died Kohana never would have had a Digimon! _I had no choice!_ ” she shouted, almost screamed the last part even which caused Takeru to flinch. Of course later on after everything had calmed down he had thought the choice had been rather unfair on Calilimon’s part. He had spent many nights lying in bed trying to figure out if there could have been another option, but he had never been able to come up with one no matter how hard he tried. The situation involving Calilimon and Tsumon was a tricky one and the only option that seemed to fit was only one of them surviving.

“Tell me then what should I have done? You said it yourself that you believed you weren’t suppose to exist because Tsumon had the human partner and you didn’t! You know Calilimon that if there had been any way to save you and Tsumon both I would have done it!” he told her as he sat down on the edge of his bed.

“I could have been saved if you weren’t so worried about Tsumon! Of course it’s quite obvious Kohana’s happiness meant more than my own so Tsumon had to live!” she accused her eyes narrowing.

Takeru stared at her for a moment then he looked down at the floor. “You wanted your brother to live…” he mumbled as he tightly gripped his comforter in his hands getting a bit angry with her, but he told himself to remain calm. Anger wasn't going to help in this situation.

“Did I really? Or was I just being the good little angelic Digimon everyone expected me to be and went with the flow of things?” she asked and Takeru noticed her tone of voice had changed. He lifted his head up to look at her and noticed she had evolved to her Adult stage known as Hantamon. This stage had the same angelic wings just with a slight lavender tint to them and eye color as the last one, but instead of looking like a nine year old girl she now appeared to be around nineteen. Her hair was styled differently instead of just being left alone. The hair on the sides of her head had each been tied up in a separate bun with long white ribbons coming from them. As for the back it was left alone and reached her waist. Her white dress had changed into a gray tunic that went to the middle of her thighs with a three inch wide belt over it. She had a mirror that had been hidden in a pocket of her dress in the previous stage that was encased in silver with feathers engraved into the silver. The mirror was tied to the belt by a bit of lace and was the size of a CD. To cover the rest of her legs she wore knee length gray pants, but had remained barefoot. On her hands she wore gray fingerless gloves that reached the middle of her upper arms and strapped to her left thigh was a quiver full of silver arrows.

The way she had phrased her last sentence seemed odd to Takeru. No one had ever really expected anything of her. It wasn’t like someone who looked like a good guy was always a good guy and the same thing could be applied to Digimon. They knew she would be herself and nothing more. He was about to say something to her when a silver rapier appeared in her hand. The calm gentle feeling she always gave off even in her higher evolutions suddenly changed making the hairs on the back of Takeru’s neck stand on end causing him to stand up. He was regretting sitting down on the bed because it meant he wouldn’t be able to get away from her without turning his back to her and right now that didn’t seem like the greatest idea in the world. A feeling he had never once associated with her before.

She took a few steps towards him her eyes narrowing while he backed up as far as the bed would allow him. “Maybe I should just take your life,” she suggested, almost whispered as she drew closer to him…

… Takeru nearly jumped when he felt something shake his shoulder. Instead he just lifted his head off his desk rather quickly and turned around to see who it was. Bearmon stood behind him a look of concern on his face his paw still in the air slightly having removed it from Takeru’s shoulder when he felt him tense up. “You where having a bad dream so I figured it would be a good idea to wake you up,” Bearmon explained. He had already been warned how dangerous it was at the moment to have bad dreams.

At the moment Takeru was very grateful that the bear Digimon seemed to be a lighter sleeper then Patamon was. The small Digimon never woke up when he was having a nightmare even the one that had caused his hands to be scarred. He patted Bearmon on the head and smiled at him. “Thank you, Bearmon,” Takeru said.

Bearmon nodded and smiled slightly as well. “You’re welcome,” he said then wandered back over to the bed and climbed into it carefully as to not wake the others that where still asleep. Takeru watched him for a moment before he turned around to look at his desk. His homework had been put up since it wasn’t sitting on top of his desk which made him wonder just when exactly he had fallen asleep since the dream had seemed to fit in a little to perfectly with what he had been doing while still awake. It worried him a bit because he hadn’t been tired when he had finished his homework so why had he fallen asleep? Takeru sighed and leaned back in his chair while placing both his hands on the back of his neck. Then he laced his fingers together to keep his hands from slipping.

In all honesty, Takeru had no idea if the nightmare he had was caused by the guilt he felt over Calilimon’s death or if it was caused by Red. With everything that had been happening he had been thinking of Calilimon a lot, but he hadn’t been questioning her death this time around. There was no reason to punish himself over it when he already knew there had been nothing he could have done. It was just him mainly recalling things that had happened while she was with them not what had happened during the last battle against Shaitanmon. Takeru unlaced his fingers and allowed his arms to drop back down to his side as he stood up to find something else to do for the rest of the night.

-X-

Takeru stood in the kitchen in his school uniform cleaning up after breakfast. The teen was being assisted by Lee and Bearmon while Patamon decided to stay in the living room so the kitchen didn’t get too crowded. Lee was still a bit down, but Takeru noticed that his mood had improved since last night. _Hope dawns anew_ , Takeru thought as he watched Lee dry a dish he had handed to him. With a slight smile on his face he went back to washing the dishes. He was almost finished when he heard the doorbell ring and since he was not expecting anyone he was a bit surprised. The teen dried his hands off on a towel and walked into the hallway heading for the front door.

When Takeru opened the door it revealed Jou and Gomamon standing behind it. “Hello Takeru,” Jou greeted.

“Hello Jou,” Takeru greeted back stepping aside to allow the two to come inside.

“I figured you might need someone to watch Lee for you,” Jou explained as he stepped inside.

Takeru smiled as he waited for Jou to switch his shoes for slippers. “Thanks, Jou. My mother was suppose to have the day off today, but then they suddenly called her in and I was wondering what I was going to do about Lee,” he told Jou glancing further down the hallway where Lee and Bearmon stood with Patamon resting on Bearmon’s head.

Jou nodded as he stood up looking at Lee as well. “What exactly do you guys do for school?” he asked Lee out of curiosity.

“The others are taught by some of the older guardians,” Lee told him.

“What about you?” Takeru asked noting he didn’t mention himself.

“Since I’m interested in making things with my hands I’m taught by Krista’s betrothed now. He does clay sculptures and stuff for a living. I haven’t seen him recently because of Krista and the others being gone,” he explained with a shrug.

Jou glanced at Takeru who was a bit envious of Lee at the moment since he had to leave for school. “I better be leaving soon or I’m going to be late,” he told them as he went to his room to retrieve his bag.

“Couldn’t you just get Patamon to evolve and carry you so you wouldn’t be late?” Lee asked as he followed Takeru into his room.

“Not without chancing causing some panic. There are still people even with their own Digimon that get jumpy when they see a Digimon in a form higher than a child,” he explained as he picked his bag up and Lee nodded. He actually had to admit he wondered if there ever would come a day when Patamon could freely evolve without having to worry about scaring someone. With a slight shake of his head Takeru went for the door as Patamon transferred from Bearmon’s head to Takeru’s shoulder. When he reached the door Takeru turned around to look at Lee. “I’ll see you later on tonight since we’ll be looking for your brother again,” Takeru told him.

“Good luck!” Lee and Bearmon cheered as Takeru walked outside.

-X-

The blonde teen stood at his shoe locker switching his boots out for his indoor shoes. He was just closing his locker when he heard someone greet him, “Good Morning Takeru-kun.”

Takeru looked over his shoulder and spotted Kohana walking over to her shoe locker. “Good Morning Kohana-chan,” Takeru said returning the greeting.

“Did you sleep last night?” she asked as she pulled her indoor shoes out of her locker.

Takeru turned around to face her as he thought for a second before he answered her. “I did on accident… I had a nightmare about Calilimon. She was upset that I didn’t try harder to help her,” he explained.

Kohana turned to look at him her eyes slightly wide. “I had one like that last night too, but mine also had Tsumon in it. He kept asking why I allowed him to live instead of his sister because of everything he had done. Tsumon ended up waking me up…” she told him then turned back around so she could sit and change her shoes. After a moment she spoke again, “I told him some of what happened last time we faced Red. I didn’t want him to be in the complete dark on what had happened.”

“How did he react to what you told him?” Takeru asked as he slung his messenger bag back over his shoulder. He was actually glad that she had told him because there were bound to be things that were going to happen that he wouldn’t have understood if she had kept it from him. Takeru just hope that Red didn’t take it upon himself to fill in the blanks for them.

“Since I didn’t tell him about his involvement in what had happened he told me he wanted to hunt Red down for hurting you and me,” she told him.

Takeru smiled slightly “That sounds like him,” he said and she nodded her head in agreement. Like the other Digimon Tsumon believed he had to help protect his other friends not just Kohana, but she was on the top of his list of those he wanted to protect.

“Our dreams… Their Red’s doing aren’t they?”

“Did Tsumon and Calilimon try to kill you in it?”

Kohana looked at him. “No it didn’t get that far if that’s where it was going to go. They were still throwing accusations at me when Tsumon woke me up… Did Calilimon try to kill you in yours?” Kohana asked and he could tell she was quite worried. She knew just as well as he did if these dreams had been caused by Red and Calilimon had been successful most likely he would not have woken up.

“Hantamon, her evolved form, tried but I wouldn’t say it was really her since her whole presence felt off right before she tried. Thankfully Bearmon woke me up before she was able to stab me with that rapier of hers…” Takeru told her as he starred down at the ground not wanting to look her in the eyes at the moment knowing full well what type of expression he most likely had on his face at the moment.

Kohana stood up once she had gotten her shoes on. Carefully, she closed the door of her shoe locker then she stepped over the bench in front of her followed by the one that separated Takeru from her. “Are you alright?” she asked looking at him.

Takeru looked up at her as he leaned back against the lockers a sad look on his face. “Even though I know it wasn’t really Calilimon that said all those things in my dream it still hurt… I spent weeks after what had happened wondering if we shouldn’t have stopped what had happened and tried to find another solution. Not that I could ever think of one but still…” he confessed. It felt strange telling her this because he hadn’t even told Patamon about his thoughts after Calilimon’s death. The small Digimon had been very upset about what had happened and Takeru hadn’t wanted to burden him with his thoughts as well so he had kept them to himself.

Kohana took his hands into hers much like Calilimon had done in the dream which made his muscles tense for a moment before he realized he was behaving stupidly. Also like Calilimon, her attention was on the scars on his hands as she gently rubbed the top of his hands with her thumbs in an attempt to soothe him while she carefully thought about what she was going to say to him. This caused him to look down at his hands as well instead of calming him.

After a moment she looked up at him. “It wasn’t just her brother that she was trying to save by her actions Takeru-kun. She was also trying to save you and Patamon,” Kohana told him as she gently squeezed his hands. “You spent the most time with her out of the two of us so you should know whatever the Calilimon said in a dream wasn’t what the real one would have said. I bet instead she would have smiled and told you she was glad that everything turned out alright in the end even if she did die.” She tilted her head to the side for a moment as she rolled the sleeve up on Takeru’s jacket. There on the wrist of his right arm was a bruise from someone grabbing on to hard. “Besides here’s some good proof that it wasn’t Calilimon,” she told him.

Surprisingly enough Takeru hadn’t noticed it when he had switched out of the cloths he had changed into after bathing last night into his uniform. His wrist hadn’t even hurt so there was nothing to really hint that it was there. After what Kohana had told him about having a similar dream, however, he should have checked knowing just what type of effects dreams caused by Red could have on someone. Takeru lifted his head up to look at her smiling slightly. “Thank you, Kohana-chan,” he told her and Kohana nodded her head smiling as well as she let go of his hands.

Kohana then went to pick up her bag and head for class, but she stopped at the archway that separated the lockers from the main part of the school. “If you ever need someone to talk to Takeru-kun I’ll listen,” she told him then continued on her way. He watched her for a moment then sighed as he pushed away from the lockers to head to class as well.

Takeru didn’t really have a chance to talk to the others about the nightmare before class started so when one of their classes before lunch turned out to be a self study he used it to his advantage. Unlike Daisuke, who got caught with his cell phone a lot, Takeru was better at keeping it hidden from the teachers. It also helped he was smart enough to wait for the teacher to step out of the class room for a moment before he sent it. It wasn’t that Daisuke wasn’t smart; it was more like he wasn’t patient enough to wait for such an opportunity. The text message Takeru sent out asked the others if they had similar dreams as the ones he and Kohana had last night.

Right after he sent the message out the teacher came back in to ask him and another student to help him retrieve some things for him so he had to quickly stuff his cell phone into his pocket. As he and the other student fetched the printouts that he wanted Takeru could feel his cell phone vibrate as more than one text message came. After he had given the teacher the printouts and had been able to return to his desk he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket before he sat down so he could see what the replies said.

The first one was from Taichi who said he did have a dream similar to the one Takeru described. The next one he read was from Iori in which he told Takeru he hadn’t had one. The reply from Miyako was the same as Iori while the reply from Daisuke, Hikari, Ken and Yamato said that they also had a similar dream. The replies from Sora, Koushirou and Jou stated that they hadn’t had one like that. Takeru read through the text messages one more time then stored his cell phone in his pocket as he sat back to think. All the ones who had replied with a yes had been directly involve with the battle against Shaitanmon not counting Kohana because she obviously didn’t have a Digimon at the time.

As to why they all had similar nightmares last night Takeru believed Red was trying to discourage them from fighting against him again while trying to prevent Kohana from fighting at all. From what he could gather from the replies he had gotten it had severely backfired. The others wanted to prevent something like this from happening again just as badly as he did. They would fight and they would not lose a friend this time if they had any say in it…

After school all the Chosen Children in Japan, but Jou meet within the high school computer lab once again to go searching. They split up in the same groups as they did last time and went to the same places to explore area’s they hadn’t been able to last night. Takeru and the others where only about an hour and a half into their searching when Iori received an e-mail on his D-terminal causing him to pull it out. The younger teen read the message then looked at the others. “It’s from Yamato. He says Taichi and him found Trace’s MP3 player with the headphones. Some Digimon had it and they claimed they found it in front of a tunnel whose entrance had collapsed recently. Yamato is coming on Metal Garurumon to fetch us since they’re going to need Digmon’s help clearing the tunnel’s entrance,” Iori explained.

“I’m glad we finally found something,” Takeru said as he turned his attention to the skies to keep an eye out for his brother while Iori sent a message telling him where they were at.

“I hope this isn’t some type of trap,” Kohana told the others as she also looked skyward.

“Sadly it could be, but we have to chance it if we want to find Trace,” Iori told her as he put his D-terminal up and Kohana nodded in agreement.

It didn’t take long for Metal Garurumon to reach them and once he was there Patamon evolved into Pegasmon since Takeru would be riding him. Takeru helped Iori and Kohana onto Metal Garurumon’s back then he picked Armadimon up handing him up to Iori. Once he was sure Iori had him he walked over to Pegasmon and climbed onto his back. When the two Digimon were sure that the Chosen Children were settled down they took off. Pegasmon followed behind Metal Garurumon as they flew while Tsumon followed Pegasmon.

It took them less time to arrive there then it had for Metal Garurumon and Yamato to find them since the machine Digimon knew just where he had to go. Taichi stood near the collapsed opening of the tunnel entrance with Agumon. When Metal Garurumon and Pegasmon landed he walked over to them. “The others are on their way now,” he told them as they climbed off the Digimon’s backs. In his hands was Trace’s black MP3 player with the silver DJ headphones that Takeru had once seen Trace with. His brother was there at the same time Takeru had seen them so that was how they knew for certain that it was Trace’s when they saw it.

As soon as Armadimon climbed off Metal Garurumon’s back he evolved to Digmon and began working on clearing the tunnel entrance. Taichi waited for the others to arrive before telling them all the details. Once they had he began speaking, “According to the Digimon that we got the MP3 player from they found it here with the tunnel already collapse. They said the tunnel is actually connected to an underground network of tunnels created by Molemon that, to anyone else, make up a very large maze. They also told us that they have seen other humans besides us around lately before they found the MP3 player. The Digimon said it was three female humans one around my age, one younger and one older,” Taichi told them.

“From what Rascmon described of Luna and what the Digimon told us about the one around our age I believe it might be Luna and the other two sisters,” Yamato added.

“Then they were already here looking for him,” Miyako commented.

“Yes, but since the Digimon hadn’t found the MP3 player yet it is possible they didn’t stick around to search the area more thoroughly,” said Taichi who handed the MP3 player over to Sora since she had her purse with her.

“How long do you think it will take you to break through the rocks?” Iori asked Digmon shouting to be heard.

Digmon paused in what he was doing so he could answer, “It shouldn’t take too long.” Iori nodded and the others waited for Digmon to reopen the tunnels entrance for them. As Digmon had told them it didn’t take him very long to remove all the rock. With it cleared Metal Garurumon and Pegasmon devolved to their child stage. As for Digmon he remained in his current stage in case he needed to do more work on the tunnel. The Chosen Children and the Digimon entered the tunnel and began to walk through it.

They where thirty minutes into the tunnel when the maze part of the underground tunnels began and they paused there to figure out what to next. “Should we separate and go down different tunnels? We already believe it’s a trap so should we just stick together?” Hikari asked as she looked at the others.

“It’ll take longer if we don’t separate, but there is a bigger chance we’ll run into more trouble if we do separate,” Ken commented as he looked at the different tunnels.

“I think it would be best to separate. The sooner we find Trace and get him away from Red the better,” Takeru told them.

Taichi turned and looked at Takeru. “Are you sure? Out of all of us it’s you that he wants so if we do separate it means you’ll probably be in more danger,” Taichi asked.

Takeru nodded. “Yeah I’m sure. There is no telling what Red might be doing to him,” Takeru answered and it was Taichi’s turn to nod his head.

“Alright we’ll split into the same groups as before then,” Taichi told them.

“We should also mark the tunnels somehow so we know which ones we’ve already explored,” Kohana suggested and the others nodded in agreement. The Chosen Children separated into groups and each took a tunnel. At the beginning of the one Takeru, Iori, and Kohana are walking through Digmon made a mark then ran to catch up to the others. The further they went into the tunnel the darker it got so the Chosen Children took their cell phones out to help light the tunnel up as they walked. The group had been walking for awhile when a hole opened up beneath them suddenly and they all fell through it.

When they landed it wasn’t on ground, but in an underground river. The area around them was lit up with small stones that where glowing. Digmon devolved back to Armadimon then evolved to Sabmarimon getting Iori to safety while Patamon evolved to Angemon and helped Takeru. As for Tsumon as long as it was short distances he could carry Kohana and luckily for him the shore was close enough to where he could take her there.

“Now was that a trap or just a bad tunnel?” Tsumon asked as Kohana removed her red neck scarf to drain it of water. Takeru and Iori did the same thing with their jackets.

“I don’t think it was a bad tunnel,” Sabmarimon said having decided to stay in the water for now.

“What now?” Iori asked as he put his jacket back on.

“Well we can either continue to explore here or have Angemon take us back up to where we were,” Takeru suggested as he put his jacket back on as well.

“If we continue to explore down here don’t we have a bigger chance of getting lost?” Angemon asked as he stood by Takeru looking around.

“Not if we mark our way clearly, but still we would have to return here when it came time to leaving,” Sabmarimon stated.

“It would probably be better to return to the other tunnel. If the others come looking for us for some reason they’ll expect us to be in it,” Kohana told them.

Takeru looked up at the hole they had fallen through. “Yeah it would probably be best to return to the upper tunnel for now and come back to this one later,” Takeru said and the others nodded.

“I’ll go up first,” Tsumon said flying back up to where they previously where while Sabmarimon devolved to Armadimon.

“Since Tsumon’s up there I’ll take Kohana up first,” Angemon said and flew over to her. She tied the scarf back on then raised her arms slightly so he could pick her up. Then the angelic Digimon carried her back up through the hole. After he had set her down and made sure that the floor wouldn’t collapse again he went to bring Takeru up. When he was safely standing next to Kohana Angemon then went to fetch both Armadimon and Iori because as long as Iori held Armadimon he could bring them both up. Once they were all safely back up Angemon devolved to Patamon and then they continued to explore the tunnel.

They weren’t even walking for ten minutes before the floor collapsed once again, but this time it only happened beneath the humans. Before the Digimon could help them the holes sealed back up and this time the underground river was swift carrying the three teenagers a bit of ways before Kohana was able to grab hold of a log that was stuck in place. She then grabbed onto the back of Iori’s jacket who, in turn, caught Takeru by his hand. “I hope one of you is a strong swimmer!” Kohana shouted over the roar of the water as she tried to pull them towards the log so they could grab hold of it as well.

Iori, being stronger then Kohana, was able to pull Takeru closer to the log to where he could get a hold of it. Takeru then helped Kohana pull Iori over to the log as well. “Now what?” Takeru asked as he looked around.

“We try to reach shore now,” Iori answered.

“How?” Kohana asked looking at the river bank.

“I have an idea. Iori let me borrow your jacket,” Takeru told him as he took his off making sure not to let go of the log as well while Iori did the same. Once Iori handed him his jacket Takeru tied a sleeve from his jacket and a sleeve from Iori’s jacket together. When he was sure the knot wouldn’t slip he looked at Kohana and Iori. “Alright you two keep a hold of one end of the jackets while I’ll keep a hold of the other and try to reach the shore. Hopefully they’ll be long enough for me to reach,” Takeru told them as he handed them a sleeve as he wrapped the other around his hand.

“Be careful,” Iori told him and Takeru nodded. Once both Iori and Kohana had a good grip on the one sleeve Takeru let go of the log and attempted to reach the shore. His first attempt to reach shore failed since he had to dodge something that suddenly came floating down stream. On the second attempt to reach the shore he managed to succeed and pulled himself onto it. Takeru then took a minute to catch his breath before he looked back at the others. “Okay, one of you use the jackets to help you get over here then we can pull the last person to shore,” Takeru told them.

“You go across first Kohana,” Iori told her and Kohana nodded. She made sure that she had a good grip of the jacket with one hand before she let go of the log. Then she carefully made her way over to the shore. Once there she pulled herself onto the bank then she took a moment to catch her breath before she went to help Takeru pull Iori in. It took them a bit to get him onto the shore, but they were able to do it.

All three sat there for a bit before Takeru spoke, “That _had_ to be a trap.”

“I agree,” Iori said as he stood up and walked further away from the water the other two stood as well following him. Once they were further back the three of them sat down and Takeru worked on undoing the knot that tied the two jackets together.

“I guess we just wait for our Digimon to find us now,” Kohana said.

“It shouldn’t take them to long,” Iori told her and she nodded. While they are waiting Iori pulled out his D-terminal and sent a message to the others letting them know what was going on. It took Takeru a bit before he managed to work the knot free and when he was done he wrung the water out of the two jackets. Then he handed Iori’s jacket back to him. Takeru tied his around his waist for now while Iori put his back on. Both of them ignored the fact that the sleeves had stretched slightly due to how they had used them.

“Something’s wrong. They should have been here by now,” Takeru commented as he looked at the others.

“It’s a better trap then I thought,” Iori told him as he glanced down at his D-terminal.

“It’s starting to get cold as well. Wet cloths aren’t helping much,” Kohana mumbled as she stood up to walk around in order to keep warm.

Iori’s D-terminal let out a beeping noise as an e-mail came in and Iori read it aloud, “Iori, we found the Digimon, but the hole you guys fell through has been sealed by this black substance that can’t be broken by any of our Digimon’s attacks. We tried going back to the hole that you had fallen into earlier but it was sealed as well with the black substance. We are going to try and find another way down to you guys but this has me worried. We’ll try to find you as soon as we can, Daisuke.”

“Now I really have a bad feeling about this,” Kohana said as she leaned up against a wall of the tunnel.

Takeru stood up when he began hearing something further down the tunnels. “I doubt they're here already,” Takeru told the others. Iori stood up as Kohana walked back over to the others. The small glowing stones in the walls of the tunnel showed a very large humanoid figure walking towards them. It didn’t take very long for them to notice it was the red-eyed Digimon.

“Well, well lookie what I found here,” Kitsumon said the grin he had quite evident in his voice. The three instantly took off running but they didn’t get very far before he was right in front of them again. “Did I happen to mention that I am faster in this form then the last one?” he asked. Takeru took a few steps back from him not liking being so close to him. The other two did the same and all three of them attempted to figure out another way to get away from hm.

With a Digimon as fast as he was Takeru didn’t think there really was one in which all three of them could escape but he could think of one that would at least keep the others safe from harm. He knew they wouldn’t like what he was planning, but he really couldn’t see any other way then the one he had found. Luckily enough in their attempt to escape they had moved closer to the riverbank so he knew his plan would work. Already imaging how angry Yamato was going to be with him for what he was doing he took a step back to get behind Iori and Kohana. Then he pushed them as hard as they could to where the two fell back into the river. The swift current quickly carried them away before they could really say anything. Takeru wasn’t at all surprised that Red showed no interest in either one of them. He only paid attention to them long enough to see that they weren’t coming back any time soon.

“I’m surprised you didn’t go with them,” Kitsumon said as he watched Takeru his hands behind his back.

“I’m not dumb enough to think you would let us go if I went with them,” Takeru told him as he turned his attention from the river to the fox Digimon. It wasn’t hard to tell just how much Takeru hated him by the look the teen was giving him.

“You know I really hate the type of person who puts others before themselves,” Kitsumon told him and Takeru just shrugged not really caring what he thought. “Oh well whatever it just means I have less work in capturing you.” Kitsumon walked over to him and slashed Takeru with his claws across the teen’s chest. Takeru at first thought Kitsumon had missed because he didn’t feel anything until he had glanced downward at his chest. The claw marks on it were shallow just being deep enough to cause them to bleed which meant Takeru didn’t really have anything to worry about. He had gotten worse scratches from Hikari's cat let along other Digimon. Then he turned his attention back to Kitsumon and realized he was wrong in his assumption. The Digimon’s claws where red and it wasn’t because they had any of his blood on them…

Takeru took a few steps back away from Kitsumon still feeling no pain which made him realize that whatever Kitsumon had done to him must have left his chest numb. Suddenly he felt an intense pain flare up in his chest that caused him to double over as he closed his eyes tightly and clenched his teeth to keep from screaming. Then his body began to feel strange almost light as he felt himself fall before he finally lost consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N – And here begins my torture of Takeru once again xD Man I really just need to write a story when things go well for him, but then I wouldn’t really have a story now would I? Okay technically I didn’t torture him in Winter isn’t an Ending :P. Any questions, comments, grammar or spelling corrections are much luv’ed.


	4. Chapter Four Captured? No, just a dream…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copy righted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it’s Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copy right for it.

“ _You know I really hate the type of person who puts others before themselves,” Kitsumon told him and Takeru just shrugged not really caring what he thought. “Oh well whatever it just means I have less work in capturing you.” Kitsumon walked over to him and slashed Takeru with his claws across the teen’s chest. Takeru at first thought Kitsumon had missed because he didn’t feel anything until he had glanced downward at his chest. The claw marks on it were shallow just being deep enough to cause them to bleed which meant Takeru didn’t really have anything to worry about. He had gotten worse scratches from Hikari's cat let along other Digimon. Then he turned his attention back to Kitsumon and realized he was wrong in his assumption. The Digimon’s claws where red and it wasn’t because they had any of his blood on them…_

_Takeru took a few steps back away from Kitsumon still feeling no pain which made him realize that whatever Kitsumon had done to him must have left his chest numb. Suddenly he felt an intense pain flare up in his chest that caused him to double over as he closed his eyes tightly and clenched his teeth to keep from screaming. Then his body began to feel strange almost light as he felt himself fall before he finally lost consciousness._

Takeru nearly jumped when he felt something shake his shoulder. Instead he just lifted his head off his desk rather quickly and turned around to see who it was. Bearmon stood behind him a look of concern on his face his paw still in the air slightly having removed it from Takeru’s shoulder when he felt his muscles tense. “You where having a bad dream so I figured it would be a good idea to wake you up,” Bearmon explained.

The teen couldn’t really remember if he was having a nightmare or not, but if Bearmon thought he was then most likely he had been and just couldn’t recall it. “Thank you, Bearmon,” Takeru told him smiling.

Bearmon nodded then tilted his head to the side. “Are you alright? Before I woke you up, you sounded like you where in pain,” Bearmon questioned.

“Yeah I’m fine. It was probably just something that had to do with the dream,” Takeru answered and Bearmon nodded then wandered back over to the bed and climbed into it carefully as to not wake the others that where still asleep. Takeru watched him for a moment before he turned around to look at his desk. His homework was still sitting out on his desk however it was completed. He gathered it up together then picked his bag up off the floor. Once he had stored the homework safely inside of his bag he glanced at the clock and was glad that it was close to sunrise so he wouldn’t have much longer to wait before everyone else was up.

-X-

After eating breakfast Takeru went to fetch his bag from his room so he could head to school. The teen didn’t have to worry about Lee because his mother had the day off today so she would be here to watch him for the day. He picked his bag up and slung it over his shoulder then walked back out into the hall way. Patamon met him at the door and the two of them said goodbye to everyone then headed off to school.

Once they had reached the school Patamon hoped off Takeru’s shoulder and looked at him. “I’ll see you at lunch Takeru,” he told him then flew off to meet up with the other Digimon. Takeru watched him for a moment then went inside of the building and walked over to his shoe locker. He had just finished switching to his indoor shoes when Kohana walked in. “Good Morning, Takeru-kun,” she greeted as she wandered over to her shoe locker.

“Good Morning, Kohana-chan,” Takeru returned the greeting.

“Did you get any sleep last night?” Kohana asked and glanced over her shoulder at him.

“A little… I fell asleep after finishing my homework only to be awoken by Bearmon when I was having a nightmare that I can’t even remember,” Takeru told her as he stood up.

“At least it wasn’t a Red nightmare then,” she responded as she pulled her indoor shoes out of her locker.

“Yeah I am glad it wasn’t one,” he told her and he waited for her to say something else. When she didn’t he was about to leave, but then she did speak up.

“I told Tsumon some of what happened five months ago… I thought it would be best since there is a chance we’ll be facing him again,” Kohana told him.

“What was his reaction to it?” Takeru asked turning his attention to her.

“He was upset with Red… I had to stop him from trying to hunt Red down by himself after I told him,” Kohana said as she smiled slightly.

Takeru shook his head. “Thankfully you where able to stop him,” Takeru told her.

“Yes I’m glad as well,” Kohana told him as she switched her shoes and put her outside ones up. Takeru waited for her to join him before heading off to class.

The rest of the day was pretty normal for Takeru just like every other day which seemed odd to him for some reason. He couldn’t push the feeling away that something was wrong, but he couldn’t figure out just what it was. Then, sometime during the last period of school he started to feel sick. At first it just started with a really bad headache then his stomach started to get upset. His face must have been pale because more than once he spotted his friends look at him with concern on their face. Takeru was more than happy when school was finally over for the day.

He stood up as soon as class was over and began putting his things up in his bag wanting to get home as soon as he could. “Takeru, you okay?” Ken asked and Takeru turned to look at him.

“I don’t know, I started feeling bad like halfway through class,” Takeru told him as the others walked over to him.

“Your face is pale,” Hikari commented as she gently placed her hand on his forehead. “It also feels like your running a fever,” Hikari told him as she removed her hand.

“I think I’m just going to go get Patamon and head home. Maybe I’ll even get him to evolve to Pegasmon to get home faster…” Takeru told them. They all nodded and let him leave. He seemed to be lucky today because Patamon was already waiting for him at the shoe lockers by the time Takeru had arrived there.

“Are you okay, Takeru?” Patamon asked as he waited for him to switch to his boots.

“Actually I’m not feeling too good… Once we get out of here can you evolve to Pegasmon so we can reach home faster?” he asked glancing at Patamon.

“Sure that’s fine. Do you think you caught something?” Patamon asked.

“I have no idea, but it’s possible,” Takeru told him as he sat down to switch his indoor shoes for his boots. When he had finished they both went outside and Patamon evolved to Pegasmon. Takeru then climbed onto his back and when he was settled Pegasmon took off for the apartment complex. It didn’t take long for him to reach it though he had to land in the parking lot. Takeru climbed off his back and waited for him to devolve to Patamon before he started for home.

As soon as he opened the door to the apartment up both Lee and Bearmon came running towards the door. “Welcome home Takeru!” Lee said then stepped aside to allow Takeru and Patamon inside.

“I’m home,” Takeru told him as he sat down to pull his boots off and switch them for slippers. As he stood up to walk further into the house he thought of something. Just why was Lee here? He felt like he was forgetting something that was important, but no matter how hard he tried he just couldn’t figure it out.

“There is no need to remember… Forget everything and remain here for what is left of your life,” something whispered and it seemed to echo throughout the hall. Takeru’s eyes unfocused for a moment a blank expression appearing on his face as he stopped what he was doing. After a moment his eyes refocused and the teen couldn’t really recall just what he had been thinking about.

Then, out of nowhere, there was an intense pain in his chest that almost made him cry out in pain as he clenched his teeth tightly. Patamon, who was on his head, felt as Takeru began sinking to his knees and quickly hopped off his head onto the floor. “Takeru, are you okay?” he asked as he placed his front paws on Takeru’s knee. As for Lee and Bearmon they ran to go fetch Natsuko.

“My chest hurts,” he told Patamon.

By the time Natsuko had arrived in the hallway Takeru had one side leaning against the wall with his head bowed and one hand was against his chest. “What’s wrong?” she asked kneeling in front of her son.

Takeru lifted his head to look at her. “I don’t know… My chest just started hurting all of a sudden…” he answered just as his vision began to blur and he passed out.

When Takeru regained consciousness he was in his room lying on his bed with Patamon sitting beside him. “How are you feeling now Takeru?” Patamon asked his ears having perked up upon seeing Takeru’s eyes open up.

Takeru slowly sat up and looked at him. “I’m feeling fine now,” he told him and Patamon nodded.

“You’ve been out for about three hours now. Your mom came and checked on you about ten minutes ago and said your fever was already gone,” Patamon informed him.

Takeru sighed letting his chin rest on his chest as he thought for a moment. “This has been one strange day…” he commented as he lifted his head up and looked around his room. Everything was normal about it which once again made him feel like he was forgetting something, but he pushed it to the side for now.

“How so?” Patamon asked tilting his head to the side.

“It’s hard to explain, but all day it seems like I keep forgetting things… No matter how hard I try I just can’t figure out what it is,” Takeru told him. “I guess it can’t be too important if I can’t remember,” he added as he reached out to Patamon with his right hand and gently patted the small Digimon on his head.

Patamon smiled up at him once Takeru removed his hand. “Maybe it has something to do with just barely starting high school?” Patamon suggested.

“Maybe that’s it,” Takeru told him and smiled.

“Do you feel like eating? Your mom said dinner was done,” Patamon told him and Takeru nodded as he stood up. The teen walked out of the room Patamon flying beside him.

After he had finished eating and had taken a bath Takeru debated for a moment whether to work on his homework or not. The idea of just going back to bed and sleeping sounded really nice to him. It wasn’t like any of the homework he had been due tomorrow so one night of procrastination couldn’t really hurt. He walked over to his bed turning the light on next to it then walked over to the main light switch. The teen waited until Patamon had crawled into bed before turning the light off then he walked over to bed lying down as well. Once he was comfortable he reached for the light on the night stand and turned it off.

The next morning was pretty much normal for him. He got up when his alarm went off. While Patamon went to the living room to watch some cartoons before breakfast and having to leave for school Takeru went to change into his high school uniform. When he was finished he went into the kitchen to make himself and Patamon breakfast since his mom had warned him at dinner she was leaving for work early today.

After the two of them ate they washed the dishes and as Takeru was putting them up Patamon took their bento lunches to Takeru’s bag. When Takeru had finished he fetched his bag from his room and headed for the door to put his boots one. As soon as Takeru had his boots on Patamon landed on his head and Takeru stood up then opened the door walking outside. Before he headed off for school he made sure that the apartment door was locked.

The rest of the morning was pretty normal as well. He ran into his friends before class which was a rare thing in itself since Daisuke and Ken both usually always had club meetings before school started. It wasn’t so rare for Hikari, Miyako and Kohana who had club meets only once in awhile in the morning. His morning classes where pretty relaxed and it was close to lunch time when things started to seem weird again. Once again he was getting the feeling that something was wrong about everything that was going on. Since he really couldn’t put a finger on what it was he tried to stop worrying about it, but even as he went with his friends to join the Digimon for lunch the feeling wouldn’t go away. It was still there while they ate and it was near impossible to concentrate on what the others were saying as they were heading back to class.

The group was half way back to the first year’s wing when Takeru began to feel light headed. He didn’t get very far before he swayed and it was Daisuke’s quick movement that kept him from falling to the floor. “Are you okay Takeru?” he asked as he helped Takeru steady himself before taking a step back.

“I’m suddenly feeling light headed,” Takeru answered as he leaned back against the hallway.

“Maybe you should head to the nurses office,” Kohana suggested a look of worry on her face.

“I think she’s right Takeru. You where running a fever yesterday,” Hikari reminded him.

“I probably should,” Takeru told them and he began to head to the nurses office while the others followed him to make sure he didn’t collapse before he reached it.

Once they where there the nurse examined Takeru for a moment. “Well you’re not running a fever but you do look very pale. Maybe it would be best to lie down on one of the beds,” the nurse told him.

“Thank you, I will,” Takeru told her as he walked back to the beds.

“As for the rest of you, if you’re not sick you need to head back to class,” the nurse told the others.

“We’ll let the teachers know you’re here Takeru,” Ken told him and Takeru nodded. They waited a bit longer however until he was lying down in bed before they left. Once he was lying down it didn’t take him that long to fall asleep.

-X-

“Oi, Takeru! Can you hear me?” Takeru heard someone shout. The teen looked around where he was at in utter confusion. He was standing, at least he thought he was standing at the moment he couldn’t be quite certain, in complete darkness. When he raised a hand in front of his face he couldn’t even see it! The voice however did sound familiar and he stood still waiting for it to call again. “Come on Child of Hope!” The voice shouted again and just with that he knew who it was. Why was he hearing Trace? “Come on, damn it answer me!” Trace shouted again.

“Trace!” he shouted in utter confusion then suddenly he felt the searing pain in his chest once again. It was worse than the last time it had happened almost immediately causing him to fall to his knees. It didn’t take him long to pass out once again…

-X-

Takeru opened his eyes and slowly sat up noticing he was within the nurse’s office in school which made sense. After all he had fallen asleep here, hadn’t he? Just what exactly had he been dreaming about this time?

“Takeru-kun, your awake,” he heard Kohana say and he turned to look at her. She was just walking into the nurse’s room with Tsumon following beside her. Patamon was also there sitting on top of Tsumon’s head.

“What time is it?” Takeru asked as he pushed a blanket off himself that the nurse must have put on him because he remembered laying on top of the blankets.

“My club just got out so it’s around five. You don’t have to worry about your mother Inoue-chan called her earlier and told her what was going on. She figured it would be best just to let you sleep,” Kohana answered and Takeru nodded. He slowly stood up then straightened his shirt and jacket out. “How do you feel?” Kohana asked as she sat his bag down on the bed. Strange how he didn’t notice she had it just a moment ago.

“I feel fine now,” he told her as he picked the bag up and slung it over his shoulder.

Kohana nodded a small smile on her face. “Then do you want to head home together?” she asked.

Takeru looked at her for a moment then smiled as well as he nodded his head. “Sure,” he answered. Kohana’s smile grew and she waited for him to slip his indoor shoes on before heading for the shoe lockers. It didn’t take either of them very long to switch to their regular shoes and once they had them on they began to walk home. “Kohana has things seemed strange to you lately?” he asked as they walked.

“No not really, why?” Kohana asked looking at him for a moment before looking ahead again.

It was because she was looking forward that she didn’t see his eyes narrow at the fact she didn't react to him calling her by her first name only. “No reasons things just seemed odd recently,” Takeru told her and she nodded.

The four continued on in silence until they reached the apartment complex Kohana lived in and they said good bye there. Tsumon lagged behind for a moment and looked at Takeru. “Takeru… Don’t doubt yourself,” Tsumon told him.

Takeru blinked and looked at him. “What do you mean Tsumon?” Takeru asked.

Tsumon shook his head a look of confusion on his face. “I-I don’t know, but whatever you do don’t doubt yourself!” he told him once again then quickly went to catch up with Kohana.

“That was weird,” Patamon commented.

“Yeah it was,” Takeru agreed as he started walking home, but he decided to do what Tsumon had told him. He wouldn’t doubt himself and right now his mind was telling him things where defiantly wrong, but for now he would keep it to himself. It didn’t take him long to get home and as soon as he got there he greeted his mother then went to his room to change into his after school cloths. Once done he went to help her finish cooking dinner. There wasn’t much he could do since it was already almost done, but his mother appreciated the help any way.

After dinner like always he took a bath and going against what he would normally does he left his homework alone instead heading to bed. When he was asked why by both Patamon and his mother he explained that it was because he wasn’t feeling good. Once he was in bed it took him awhile to fall asleep.

-X-

Once again Takeru found himself standing in complete darkness. “Damn it, Takeru! If you can fucking hear me answer me!” he heard Trace shout once again but he sounded more desperate then before.

“Trace!” Takeru shouted as loud as he could. Just what was going on here?

“ _Fuck!_ Damn it, why the hell isn’t this working? I gotta try something else…” Trace said his voice fading near the end.

-X-

Takeru woke with a start because of a sudden pain in his head his unexpected movement almost knocking Patamon out of bed. “Takeru is something wrong?” Patamon asked unable to see anything at the moment with the lights off.

Almost as soon as it had come the pain was gone. “No, nothing is wrong Patamon… Everything just seems… off,” he told him.

“What do you mean?” Patamon asked and Takeru could just imagine him tilting his head to the side like he always did when he was confused.

“I don’t know! I’ve been trying to figure it out since lunch time, but I can’t seem to,” Takeru answered shaking his head in frustration. “I think I’ll go get something to drink,” he told Patamon and stood up only to sway. Takeru placed his hands on his bed to help steady himself. Now he was beginning to feel sick to his stomach and he had a feeling he was spiking a fever with how hot he felt.

From atop his desk a flash of light emitted from his D-3 drawing his attention to it. “Maybe you should lay down Takeru,” Patamon suggested walking across the bed to him. For now he ignored Patamon and slowly walked over to his desk picking his D-3 up. The screen on it turned on and he saw the symbol from the crest of hope flash on it.

“What?” Takeru mumbled in confusion as he starred at his D-3. That was the last thing he would expect to see on his D-3. Words started scrolling across the screen and Takeru read them aloud, “Wake up, Child of Hope.” As soon as the last word left his lip his chest started to hurt worse than the previous times causing him to cry out in pain and he almost dropped the D-3.

His attention was drawn to the D-3 once again when he noticed more words were scrolling across it and once again he read them aloud, “Wake up, now damn it, if things continue like this you’re fucking life is going to be at risk…” The pain in his chest intensified and his vision doubled as his legs give out on him, but it wasn’t hard for him to guess just where these strange messages were coming from with all the curse words added in the sentences. There was only one person he knew that cursed like that when they spoke.

“Takeru-kun,” he heard someone say behind him and he forced himself to stand back up then turned around since he recognized that voice. Standing a few feet away from him was Calilimon. From the corner of his eye he saw the D-3 flash then its colors change to where the green was replaced with gold while the green took over what was once white. It had done this once before five months earlier when Seraphimon had evolved to Guardian Mode. With that he knew this Calilimon wasn't fake like the one before had been. He couldn't help the wide eyed stare he gave her no doubt his confusion showing on his face. Calilimon smiled softly at him for a moment. “Wake up!” she shouted at him then evolved to Hantamon much like his dream before except this time she really did stab him with her silver rapier much to his surprise.

-X-

Takeru’s eyes shot open as he tried to sit up only to almost bang his forehead against Trace’s. Luckily for them both Takeru’s sudden movement had startled Trace causing him to pull back before it happened. “Fuck! If that trick hadn’t work…” he started but quickly shook his head as he pushed Takeru back down against the bed he was laying in. “Any way don’t try standing up right now,” Trace told him.

With how bad he was feeling at the moment Takeru had no doubt he would have any trouble doing what Trace had told him. “Just how did you do that?” Takeru asked his voice coming out in an almost whisper which alarmed him somewhat.

Trace leaned back onto his heels before he squatted down resting his arms on his legs so he was at eye level with Takeru. “This close to you even without the key I can manipulate your dreams into nightmares somewhat,” Trace explained.

“What’s going on?” he asked turning his head to the side so he could look at Trace better. Trace swatted his own bangs out of his face and Takeru could see that Trace’s right emerald green eye and his left sapphire blue eye where filled with worry. He could also see the dark circles under his eyes which lead him to believe this was the real Trace and not another fake.

“That bastard Kitsumon poisoned you with his claws when he slashed your chest. You’ve only been asleep for a few hours at most, but the longer you slept the worse you got. Not the wounds on your chest mind you, but the rest of you. Right now you’re spiking a pretty high fever. I’ve treated the wounds on your chest the best I could with being in here and all, but as things are you’re better off not trying to sleep again,” Trace explained.

With the way he was feeling Takeru had a bad feeling that he was going to have trouble staying awake. “Trace I’m sorry,” Takeru apologized as he looked up.

Trace blinked as he sat down due to his calves beginning to ache from being in this position to long. “Why?” he asked.

“For not trying to find you sooner,” Takeru explained.

Trace gently pat Takeru on the arm. It never really accrued to him that Takeru would feel guilty about everything that had happened. After all it wasn’t like Trace was his responsibility and he knew they couldn’t really consider themselves friends just yet with how short they had known each other. He knew the younger teen had a big heart and all, but why would he blame himself for what had happened? “Don’t worry about it. There was no way you could have known that bastard caught me,” Trace told him.

Takeru slowly shook his head. “I should have realized something was wrong since we didn’t hear from you since that morning after the battle with Shaitanmon,” Takeru argued and when Trace sighed he turned his head to look at the older teen.

“Well I shouldn’t have been stupid enough to come to the Digital World without telling someone. Besides a lot of what happened to you last time was my fault for getting my key stolen in the first place so as far as I’m concerned we’re even,” Trace informed him as he pulled his hair over his shoulder so he could lean back on his hands. In this case it really was Trace’s fault because he had been warned that going to the real world when he did would be dangerous but he had ignored the warning resulting in him losing the key.

“You really don’t blame yourself for what happen do you? It wasn’t like you could have known what was going to happen.” Takeru asked causing Trace to smirk which caused Takeru to stare at him in confusion.

“Aren’t you kind of contradicting yourself there? It’s alright for you to blame yourself for me being held captive so long but it’s not alright for me to blame myself because you got burned,” Trace pointed out and Takeru had to admit he had a good point.

“Alright then I guess we are even,” Takeru stated and Trace nodded his head in agreement. He thought for a moment before he asked, “Why did Kitsumon capture you anyway?”

“I can think for a couple of different reasons,” Trace began, “There is of course for the most obvious reason and that would be to have used me as bait for some type of trap which he did of course. Another is because I think he finally realized that he can’t really do any of the really neat tricks the key has without using me as a power source and he wanted to secure said power source. Also I think for some reason he wanted to draw out my siblings but I’m not sure why.”

“Is it possible that he wants to take their keys as well?” Takeru asked.

“It’s possible, but I’m not sure if he could use any one elses besides Luna’s. The other keys have a ton of safe guards on them because of how much more important they are then mine and Luna’s. Of course after what has happened I have a feeling Krista might have added the same safeguards to Luna’s and if we get mine back she’ll probably do the same to mine,” Trace told him and he really did hope his older sister had placed safeguards on Luna’s key because it would prevent anyone from using the key unless they were given permission by Luna to use it.

_With all the different types of people that have held the nightmare key I’m surprised no one else had ever thought of the possibility of using it the way Kitsumon does…_ Trace thought to himself. It was of course entirely possible someone had and for some reason had kept it to themselves but that made Trace wonder why they would have done such a thing.

“I wonder how the others are doing…” Takeru mumbled and Trace couldn’t help wondering the same thing.

:: Earlier That Day ::

Further down tunnel from where Takeru and Kitsumon were, a woman in her early twenties and her Wizarmon partner managed to pull Kohana and Iori out of the river and onto the riverbank. Once out of the water Kohana quickly turned to her. “Please you have to help our friend! He’s further up the tunnel and his life is in danger!” she shouted pointing in the direction she and Iori had come from. The woman looked in the direction that Kohana pointed and took off running Wizarmon following her as well as two other girls with their Digimon.

Almost as soon as they were out of sight the other Chosen Children ran up to Kohana and Iori. Iori quickly explained to them what had happened causing several of their faces to pale. “Takeru!” Yamato shouted as he took off in a dead run Gabumon right beside him as the others followed him. _Please let him be alright!_ By the time they had arrived in the general area that Iori and Kohana knew to be where Takeru was supposed to be at they spotted the three girls and their Digimon standing around in a circle with Takeru’s jacket in the center. The fact Takeru wasn’t there as well made them realize that he had indeed been captured.

“Damn it!” Yamato shouted causing the three girls to turn and look at him.

As for Patamon, his eyes widen and he attempted to fly further down the tunnel only to have one of the girls grab him before he could get very far. “Let me go!” Patamon shouted as he struggled to get free. Yamato couldn’t really blame him he was tempted to go further down the tunnel himself to try and find his brother, but he knew Red would not allow them to get his brother back so easily. Yamato was not looking forward to explaining this to their mother especially when she learned they had split up to search this place.

“No! If he catches you as well then there is nothing that will save Takeru!” the girl shouted and Patamon finally stopped to look at her as did Yamato. The girl, Patamon guessed, was about a year older then Takeru was. Her hair was long and black reaching the back of her knees but wasn’t straight naturally curling slightly at the end. The sides had been pulled back in a knotted bun at the back of her head. When Patamon noticed the purple high lights in her hair he had a fairly good guess as to just who was holding him but his suspicions where confirmed when he noted that while her bangs where chin length they had been brushed to the sides to where they wouldn’t cover her eyes and it was her eyes that really gave her away. Her left eye was emerald green while her right was sapphire blue. The girl was wearing a black shirt that seemed to have bell sleeves and a shot black skirt with a red cloth belt tied at her right hip with a black pouch attacked to it that rested against her left hip. Her shoes were black boots that went up to her knees and she also wore white stockings that went to mid thigh. Each ear was pierced once with a gold hoop earring and around her neck she wore a red cloth choker tied to the right side of her neck much like her belt.

“You’re Luna,” Patamon stated as he calmed down a bit and she nodded.

“What did you mean by saying if he caught Patamon that nothing would save him?” Yamato asked while he walked over to them. It was obvious at the moment she knew more than the Chosen Children did.

The woman who was probably a year older then Jou sighed as she looked at the Chosen Children. Unlike Luna her hair was a dirty blonde, but her eyes where the same color blue as Luna’s right eye. Her hair was slightly wavy and was about chin length with her bangs barely falling into her eyes. She wore a loose fitting blue t-shirt with skinny jeans and black sneakers since she really didn’t think it was smart going around the Digital World in fancy clothing a sentiment her younger sister obviously didn’t share. “What my little sister is trying to say is as long as Patamon is alive he won’t kill Takeru,” she explained while the Wizarmon standing beside her nodded his head in agreement.

Then the one that was probably a bit younger then Iori spoke up, “There were two paths here. One in which Takeru was captured in the other both him and Patamon where…” She turned to look at Yamato and spoke again, “Only the later one ended with death. As long as he doesn’t get a hold of Patamon there is a chance we can save Takeru and our brother.” Her hair was brown and straight being almost the same length as the older one but the sides where pulled up into pig tails. As for her bangs they would have fallen into her eyes, but they where brushed to one side. While her eyes where the same green color as Luna’s left eye. Her shirt had long sleeves and was white in color buttoning up in the front. The shorts she wore where short in length and where made out of jeans and like the older one she wore plain black sneakers. In her arms she carried an Elecmon.

“Then you’re Trace’s sisters?” Hikari asked them though at this point the answer was pretty obvious.

A cat like Digimon who was standing near Luna took a few steps forward and spoke, “Yes they are and like you they came here looking for him. We were also hoping to stop Takeru from being captured.” Unlike Tailmon this cat Digimon could not walk on her two hind legs but was stuck on all four. She was several different colors; black, white, and orange like a normal calico cat would be while her fur was extremely fluffy giving her a puffy appearance except on her tail were the fur was laying flat. Her tail naturally curled at the end to where it looked like it was almost knotted. Her eyes were golden and she had an ear clip on her right ear that looked like several wires pierced it before ending in stars at the base of her ear. The easiest way to tell she wasn’t a cat was because her eyes were similar to Patamon’s in design except the obvious difference in color. She also wore three golden bangle bracelets of different width, the thickest being on bottom, around her right front leg.

The youngest of the three spoke then, “I tried to tell you sisters that it was impossible.”

Once again the older sighed and pinched the bridge of her noise. “I believe, I have explained, Lexi, nothing is set in stone,” she told the younger one. Lexi just shook her head obviously not believing her older sister.

“Couldn’t you just use your abilities to find where they are at?” Ken asked.

“Lexi doesn’t like admitting this, but she can only see certain things. As for how we know Takeru won’t die I checked and for a week at least Takeru’s destiny or fate continues… Also a week is far as I can see for an individual’s fate slash destiny,” the oldest explained.

Taichi shook his head slightly confused at the moment. “Then we’ll just continue the way we have been going,” he told them then turned to look at Koushirou. “Koushirou I need you to head back to tell the others what is going on. If Jou can come you better get him as well I have a bad feeling we’re going to need him,” Taichi said and Koushirou nodded.

He was about to leave when Yamato spoke up. “Wait a minute, Koushirou,” he started then turned to look at the sisters before continuing, “Do you know your youngest brother is in the real world?”

The sisters looked at each other in surprise then at Yamato. “How did he get there?” Luna asked.

“According to what he told Takeru, he just copied what Trace always did in order to get a door way to appear. The reason I asked Koushirou to wait is because I thought you might also want him brought here,” Yamato explained.

“It’s probably best that he is brought here. If nothing else he can help look as well,” the oldest said.

Lexi turned to look at her. “Krista I’ll take Koushirou back to the human world it will be faster that way,” she told her and Krista nodded. Lexi walked over to Koushirou taking a white key out of her shorts pocket and made a gray doorway appear. She used to the key to open it up. “This will take us to wherever you guys came into the Digital World from. I never been to your world myself so this is the best I can do for now,” she explained.

“This will make things a lot faster,” Koushirou said as him and Tentomon walked through the door way. Then Lexi followed them and the door closed behind her.

“We might have some luck in finding Takeru and Trace,” Krista told them.

“How?” Daisuke asked looking at her.

“As you guys know from past experience with one as well as his name Wizarmon is a Wizard Digimon,” Luna explained.

“Like Kitsumon, or Red as you know him, Wizarmon has the ability to use our keys within the Digital World. Using our keys he may be able to locate Trace’s key and thus lead us to where he has Takeru and Trace. If we add in Lee’s key instead of using our keys to locate Trace’s we can use them to locate Trace himself,” Krista further explained. “While we wait for them to return we’ll just see if Wizarmon can use them to find Trace’s key for now.” Then Luna and Krista each took out their keys. Luna’s was purple in color while Krista’s was blue.

They handed them over to Wizarmon who bowed and spoke, “I will do my best to find them.”

::At the Underground Dungeon::

Kitsumon walked into the dungeon cave and walked up to the cell Takeru and Trace where in. “I see you managed to wake him up even without the key,” Kitsumon commented slightly shocked that he could.

“I’m not completely useless without it,” Trace said off-handedly as he kept his attention on the other teen making sure Takeru stayed awake.

Kitsumon just shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. All I need now is Angel Boy,” he told him.

“Do you really fucking think they’ll let him anywhere near you now?” Trace asked as he looked at him like he was crazy. Of course Trace really did believe he was crazy so it wasn’t hard to look at him like he was.

“The question should be whether or not they can keep him away from me. After all he almost has the same personality as blonde. So willing to sacrifice one’s self to save his friends,” he told Trace then walked off having only really come to check up on them.

Trace groaned as he turned his attention back to Takeru. “Please tell me you really didn’t sacrifice yourself to save your friends!” Trace shouted at him. _He really couldn’t be that stupid could he?_

“What did you expect me to do? Let him kill them?” Takeru asked sitting up on his elbows slightly.

“He’s already proven he doesn’t care about anyone else but you and Patamon,” Trace reminded him.

Takeru sighed then tried to explain the situation better in hopes Trace would understand, “Kohana was there… He’s shown interest in her in the past...”

“Only because she had a lead to his fucking weakness!” Trace shouted at him his eyes narrowed. If he had stuck with whoever he had been with there would have been a chance Takeru wouldn’t be as bad off as he was now.

Now it was Takeru’s turn to get mad. He was already regretting his choice not because he thought it had been the wrong one, but because of how worried he had most likely made everyone else. Not to mention an already bad situation with Trace being captured had been made worse with his and on top of all of that he felt sick to his stomach, his head hurt as well as his chest. He also felt very tired and just wanted to sleep but knew he couldn’t. All this combined was making his temper shorter then it normally was. With his anger he forgot Trace’s earlier warning and stood up glaring down at him.

“He’s shown interest in her this time as well! He’s re-taught Tsumon that damn song not to mention the nightmare he gave to Kohana! He’s also shown interest in Yamato and the others that helped Seraphimon fight! On top of all that he’s harmed people not even involved in this mess in their nightmares! There was no way in hell I was willing to take any chances!” he shouted at Trace as he clenched his fists tightly. The way Trace was talking it made it seem to Takeru like he had put his life at risk for stupid reasons when Takeru knew he hadn’t. Takeru was only reminded of Trace’s warning when he swayed and the older teen quickly stood up placing his hands on Takeru’s shoulder to keep him from falling. It alarmed the younger teen just how weak he was feeling. How could he feel this bad only after a few hours?

“I told you not to stand up,” Trace reminded him as he helped Takeru lay back down. Trace sighed and brushed his bangs out of his face again then ran his fingers through his hair until they got tangled up in his long hair and he had to fight to pull them back out. “And I’m sorry for being a bastard… what do you mean he’s shown interest in them?” Trace asked as he sat back down feeling very guilty at the moment. His temper was also short thanks to what had been happening to him at the hands of Kitsumon and had ended up taking that anger out on Takeru which really wasn't fair of him.

In reality he was glad that Takeru was here because it kept him from dwelling on thoughts he wish would leave him alone. It made him also feel guiltier at the same time to feel like that because of the condition Takeru was in. He also knew that if he hadn’t been stupid enough to get himself caught Takeru wouldn’t be in this mess now. At the rate things were going he really might end up breaking down at least emotionally and he hated that he was so weak. He was also worried about the fact that unstable emotions could make it to where he couldn’t control his own abilities. The last thing he needed on top of everything else was to accidentally hurt Takeru because he couldn’t reign in his own emotions.

Takeru waited a minute to where he didn’t feel like he was going to throw up before answering him, “Last night he showed all of us directly involved in the fight nightmares about Calilimon. Each was done to fit each individual not just a massive shared one…” Trace had earlier noticed the finger shape bruises on Takeru’s wrist when he had been treating his injuries. With how small they had been he knew they couldn’t have come from Kitsumon and he now had an idea where they might have come from.

_Don’t tell me he also feels guilty about what happened to Calilimon,_ Trace thought to himself seeing no other way that Takeru would have allowed a dream Calilimon to grip his wrist hard enough and long enough to leave bruises. _Damn it, just how much emotional damage is this kid going to go through before all of this is done?_ Now Trace wasn’t just worried about his own mental well being. “He’s just trying to break them… He doesn’t want them getting involved again because he’s afraid they’ll stop him,” Trace told him since he knew that was what Kitsumon was trying to do with him for the most part, but he wasn’t going to tell Takeru that. He’d worry about what the bastard had done to him since capturing him on his own.

“Well Yamato won’t back down now since I’ve been captured, but Kohana didn’t fight. Why even bother with her this time? Tsumon has yet to even evolve to his adult stage,” Takeru explained as he turned his head to look at Trace.

Trace thought a moment before he answered, “… Because he is a sadistic bastard…”

“That… is in no way reassuring…” Takeru told him as he laid an arm across his forehead when he turned his head to look up.

“I’m just saying the truth,” Trace countered as he looked forward.

The two of them sat in silence for a moment only to be broken by Takeru when he asked, “Since you’re still here you can’t destroy this cell can you?”

“No, it’s made from this weird black stuff that I can’t break…” Trace explained frustration clearly in his voice. Takeru couldn’t really blame him. At least Trace had something he could have done to help himself unlike Takeru who had to rely on Patamon in situations like these.

“The Digimon couldn’t break it with their attacks either,” Takeru told him.

“… That explains how he managed to catch you without Patamon being involved… Also makes me feel a little less worthless,” Trace said as he looked at him.

Takeru sat there for a moment then smiled slightly causing Trace to look at him wondering if the fever had gotten high enough to fry his brain. “You’re going to have to change the name of your ability…” Takeru told him.

Trace blinked then thought on what he said for a moment before laughing a little. “Alright how about the ability to destroy anything but weird black stuff that crazy Digimon make?” he asked.

Takeru laughed this time which turned into a coughing fit. It took awhile for it to calm down so Takeru could catch his breath and speak again. “Even without falling asleep I’m getting worse aren’t I?” he asked.

The older teen looked away resting the back of his head against the back wall of the cell and sighed, “It doesn’t help you came here completely soaked…” If the others didn’t get here soon Trace might end up having to do something drastic in order to save the younger teens life. As he stared out of the cell Trace wondered if it would even do any good.

::The Tunnels::

Wizarmon stood holding his glowing staff in front of him with four keys floating in front of it. By then Koushirou and Lexi had came back with Lee and Jou so the two siblings had added their keys as well. After awhile the staff stopped glowing and the keys returned to their respective owners. “I am sorry I am unable to locate them… Something is hiding them from me,” he explained bowing his head slightly in shame.

“Could it be the fault of that black stuff? Even Imperial Dramon Fighter Mode couldn’t break it,” Patamon told him. In all honesty the others had been surprised there had been enough room for V-mon and Wormmon to even evolve to Imperial Dramon Fighter Mode. It was obvious these tunnels were meant for something large to travel through them but did they really want to know just what they were meant for?

Wizarmon looked at him. “That is possible,” he admitted though he was unsure since he had yet to encounter the stuff himself.

“Then what was the point of the force sleep Rascmon was in if that black stuff can block our powers!” Lee shouted in frustration.

Krista turned to look at her younger brother. “Think Lee! He can only use it to further block our powers and Wizarmon in the Digital World! Once something becomes a memory it enters your realm. The black stuff can’t block your powers there,” she explained to him.

Lee thought over what his sister said before he spoke, “If Rascmon was able to see then he would have memories of how he and Trace got where they were. I also would have known the Trace with him was a fake… But then with Takeru shouldn’t I be able to see where they are through his memories?”

Lexi then spoke up as she walked over to Lee, “That is why, brother, the two of us are going back to our realms to find clues to Takeru and Traces whereabouts.”

Lee nodded then paused as he turned to Rascmon who had come with them. “What about you Rascmon?”

Rascmon looked at Lee and answered, “I am going to stay here and help them search.”

“Alright,” Lee said then waited until Lexi opened a doorway. He and Bearmon followed her through it and once again the door closed behind them. The others then broke into groups and began the search anew.

Patamon, who was with Luna, Bithamon, Yamato, and Gabumon, flew over to Luna so he could land on her shoulder in order to speak with her, “Luna, why can’t you just copy Kitsumon in what he is doing?” When he realized what he was asking could be a bit confusing he explained further, “What I mean is why can’t you copy how he is dragging people into the nightmare realm to hurt them while they slept so you can drag either Takeru or Trace into the dream realm so they can help us find out where they are?”

Luna stopped walking and looked at Patamon. “I can’t copy him because I don’t have the power to, but I could try and use it against him,” Luna answered.

Yamato also stopped walking to look at her. “How?” he asked.

Luna looked at him. “As Patamon pointed out Kitsumon needs to be in the nightmare realm in order to what he does. Since Trace and I are twins we can manipulate each others realms, something not even Krista can do. If we can get him to enter the nightmare realm there is a chance I could turn the realm against him. He may be holding the key right now, but it will still only recognize Trace as its owner so I should be able to do it. It would force him to do one of two things; to manipulate the realm itself which would most likely force him to draw power from Trace which would mean the black stuff would have to vanish so Wizarmon would be able to find them or it would force him to flee in which case whatever door he uses as long as I am close enough to it I can force it open and follow after him. That is as long as the door doesn’t vanish before I can do so,” Luna explained.

“The only problem with that plan is that we would need to use someone as bait and the best bait we have has been caught or Patamon which as you have already said isn’t an option,” Yamato pointed out.

“Even though Kitsumon has Takeru it doesn’t mean he won’t still mess with him while he sleeps, but there is in fact someone else that would make the perfect bait as long as we brought them directly to the nightmare realm to entice him even more,” Luna countered.

“Who would that be?” Gabumon asked.

“Kohana; she’s the perfect choice because if she hadn’t been in the one battle you guys never would have figured out Kitsumon’s weakness and no doubt he has a grudge against her,” Luna explained.

“No! Tsumon can’t even evolve high enough to protect her!” Patamon objected.

“Not to mention there is no telling what will happen to her!” Yamato argued not liking the idea one bit.

Luna looked at both of them her hands on her hips as her eyes narrowed. “I’m not asking the two of you! It’s Kohana’s choice not yours,” she told both of them. Yamato and Gabumon looked at each other already knowing just what she would choose…

“This feels like Calilimon all over again…” Patamon mumbled to himself which made Luna regret how she had worded what she had said.

She sighed and gently patted Patamon on the head. “Don’t worry nothing will happen to her,” Luna reassured him.

“How can you be sure?” Yamato asked looking at her.

“Because they may look like mere humans here and in your world, but inside their own realms they are not something you wish to mess with,” Bithamon told them and the looks on their faces showed they doubted her. They were going to need something else to convince the three that Kohana wouldn’t be harmed.

“Look, Hikari is in the same group Kohana is in right now so when I go ask Kohana if she wants to help Hikari will most likely hear and will want to come along. I doubt he will be able to do anything with Ofanimon there,” Luna told them and they had to agree with her there.

Afraid they might continue to argue with her Luna picked Patamon up off her shoulder and handed him over to Yamato. Then she pulled her key out of the hidden pocket in one of her bell sleeves and made a door appear. She and Bithamon walked through it as soon as it opened and Luna made sure it closed behind her so they wouldn’t try and follow her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N – A lot of L names in that family, huh? xD. I know there are a LOT of things in this chapter that can confuse someone so please ask if anything I have tried to explain does not make sense to you. I’ll send a pm to you and try to explain it better. I already know I’m bad at explaining things x_x. Also when Luna says Kitsumon needs to be in the nightmare realm to do what he does she means he has to be there in order to actually hurt people. The redwood place Kohana was taken to does not count for this rule though and you’ll find out later just why that is.


	5. Chapter Five What One is Willing to do…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copy righted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it’s Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copy right for it.

_She sighed and gently patted Patamon on the head. “Don’t worry nothing will happen to her,” Luna reassured him._

“ _How can you be sure?” Yamato asked looking at her._

“ _Because they may look like mere humans here and in your world, but inside their own realms they are not something you wish to mess with,” Bithamon told them and the looks on their faces showed they doubted her. They were going to need something else to convince the three that Kohana wouldn’t be harmed._

“ _Look, Hikari is in the same group Kohana is in right now so when I go ask Kohana if she wants to help Hikari will most likely hear and will want to come along. I doubt he will be able to do anything with Ofanimon there,” Luna told them and they had to agree with her there._

_Afraid they might continue to argue with her Luna picked Patamon up off her shoulder and handed him over to Yamato. Then she pulled her key out of the hidden pocket in one of her bell sleeves and made a door appear. She and Bithamon walked through it as soon as it opened and Luna made sure it closed behind her so they wouldn’t try and follow her._

_They really need to realize that no one in their group is a child that needs to be protected…_ Luna thought to herself but then a small smile appeared on her face. This just proved that the Chosen Children were really close to one another. It made her think of them as one big family and with Kohana being the ‘baby’ of the family she was of course going to be protected. The teen blinked when she realized she was being stared at and mentally berated herself for her side tracking thoughts. Hikari and Kohana had both been shocked by Luna’s sudden appearance since the two of them were not really used to the doors yet and thus were the ones staring at her.

“Is something wrong, Luna?” Hikari asked as Luna walked over to them.

“No, but I think I might have come up with a plan to find out where my brother and Takeru are at,” Luna told her.

“What is it?” Kohana asked her.

“Well I’ll need your help on this one Kohana,” Luna started then she proceeded to explain the plan she had come up with thanks to Patamon’s question. Tsumon didn’t like the idea of it at all, but he knew how much Kohana liked Takeru so he wisely kept his objection to his self.

“I’ll help,” Kohana told her.

Hikari looked at Tailmon and the two of them nodded. “We’re coming along as well!” Hikari stated.

“Good! Yamato and Patamon wouldn’t let me do this if you weren’t coming along. Any way we have to go tell Krista what we’re doing first then we’ll head to the nightmare realm,” Luna explained.

An hour later had everyone ready to follow through with Luna’s plan. The Chosen Children went to regroup with Krista who had gone to fetch Lee from his realm so Wizarmon could use his key if Luna’s plan worked. As for Lexi she continued to explore with Taichi, Yamato, Agumon, and Gabumon in case Luna’s plan failed so they would still have someone searching. It also served as a means to keep Yamato calm since the idea of standing around doing nothing did not appeal to him. If it did work Lexi could quickly take them to where Trace and Takeru where at.

Luna, Hikari, Kohana and their Digimon now stood within the nightmare realm. The place wasn’t the nicest place to be out of all the sibling realms. The ground was red in color from having so much clay in it and the entire place was covered in a forest. A forest with tree’s charred black as if at one time a massive fire swept across the realm. They stood in the center of it where a willow tree was at and like the rest of the trees it was charred black, but had several very thick web like things covering it. In the background they could here screaming and the occasional roar.

“This is where Trace usually spends his time?” Kohana asked looking around the realm. She didn’t like it one bit and could understand now why Trace spent so much time in the real world.

“Yes, when he gets older and more powerful he’ll be able to change what it looks like right now it’s stuck in its default look,” Luna explained as she looked around as well. She didn’t like this place much either. It was one reason when they were younger and not powerful enough to travel to the real world that Luna had made sure he spent most of his time with her in her own realm which was the exact opposite in appearance of her brothers.

“So, now what do we do?” Hikari asked as she looked at Luna.

“First Kohana you’ll need to lay down then I’ll use my key to get you to sleep. I warn you now being in here is going to cause you to have nightmares…. I can’t stop them either otherwise Kitsumon won’t realize you here,” Luna explained.

“As long as they aren’t Kitsumon nightmares I’ll be fine,” Kohana told her as she lay down on the ground. Luna nodded and knelt down to gently tap Kohana’s forehead with her key. In a matter of minutes Kohana was asleep. Luna then used her key to manipulate the realm to where all but Kohana where hidden from view. Then they waited for a couple of hours without anything happening. Luna had Hikari e-mail the others suggesting they continue looking since if they did find them it wouldn’t take the siblings very long to gather them all together again. There were a couple of times Kohana woke up because of the nightmares she was having, but every time she insisted that Luna put her back to sleep. Luna would do so, but the later it got the more she begun to believe that maybe this wasn’t going to work tonight.

:: Digimon World: Cell ::

Trace spent the entire night making sure that Takeru didn’t fall asleep. At first it was easy enough, but as the night wore on it becomes harder as Takeru slowly got worse. There were a few times he had to forcefully wake Takeru again much like he had to do earlier during the day which caused him to use some of his power. By the time morning had come Takeru’s vision had begun to blur and it felt like someone was stabbing him in the head.

“This isn’t going to end well if they don’t find us soon,” Trace mumbled as he crossed his arms across his chest. If he had to keep using his power like this, it wouldn’t take long for him to be drained which would cause him to fall asleep as well. The only up side to that would be the fact Kitsumon couldn’t use him as a battery. As of right now it really was looking like he was going to have to go with his desperate plan. He just hoped if he did that he wouldn’t end up making things worse then what they were. Then again since he was only going to do it if he feared Takeru was going to die then he really couldn’t make things worse.

_I wonder just what hoops I can get Kitsumon to leap through if I do end up threatening to kill myself since it means my key will vanish…_ he thought to himself as he leaned forward so his bangs would shield his eyes. Trace knew Takeru was good at reading emotions and his eyes always gave his away. The younger teen did not need to see just how scared he was at the moment. _Of course there is always the slim chance Kitsumon will decide that loosing the key is a small price to pay in the grand scheme of things…_ Trace warned himself. Then again hadn’t Kitsumon proven he wanted Trace alive by doing as little physical damage to him as he could? Of course that had been _before_ he had captured Takeru so it might not matter so much now.

_Damn it, they better hurry up with whatever plan they got!_

:: Nightmare Realm ::

Luna shook her head and removed the covering from them as she walked over to Kohana. “Are we giving up?” Tsumon asked following her.

“For now yes mainly because those who are searching in the Digimon World need a break,” Luna explained as she woke Kohana up.

“It didn’t work?” Kohana asked slightly mumbling her words as she woke up.

“No, but we’ll try again later… For now we need to head back to the Digital World,” Luna told her.

“You do realize that it’s likely Yamato isn’t going to stop looking,” Hikari said as she watched Luna open a door that appeared. Luna paused knowing that she also wouldn’t stop as well since her brother was in this mess as well.

“Yes, but since Kohana got some sleep at least he won’t be searching alone,” Luna said as they walked through the door to the Digital World to meet up with Krista.

“I guess it couldn’t be that easy…” Krista said when she saw them.

“We’ll try again later, but I figured it would be best if we let the Chosen Children get some rest,” Luna explained.

“I was about to get you to say the same thing… You’re staying to continue looking I assume?” she asked turning to look at Kohana.

“Yes I am,” Kohana answered.

“You’re not going to be the only one, no doubt,” Krista said then with the help of Luna they gathered the rest of the Chosen Children up which now included Mimi as she had come to help search as well. As Hikari had predicted Yamato didn’t want to stop searching and at the moment no one was willing to try and stop him. So both he and Kohana continued to search while the others went home to get some rest. As for the siblings Krista sent Lee and Lexi back to their realms to see if they could find anything while she made Luna go get some rest. As for herself she stayed within the Digital World with Wizarmon just in case he was able to pick something up with her key.

Kohana and Yamato had been searching for two hours when Lee and Lexi suddenly showed up with their Digimon and Rascmon. “Yamato can you tell me where Jou would be right now?” Lexi asked as she walked over to him.

“He should be at his apartment…” Yamato told them. Lexi and Lee nodded then quickly left again. Yamato looked at Kohana. “Now I really worried if their looking for Jou,” he told her.

“I don’t blame you,” she said with a sigh.

The two of them continued to look for another three hours before the others had come back to join the search. “Yamato you need to get some rest,” Taichi told him as he walked over to him.

“I know, but I’m worried about Takeru. Especially since Lee and Lexi came to find out where Jou was about three hours ago,” he explained and sighed.

“You’re tired and neither you nor Gabumon are going to be any use to us if you’re too tired to fight… Remember what happened last time we had this type of conversation?” Taichi asked.

“Yes I do the two of us ended up fighting...” Yamato said and Taichi was about to say something when he noticed Yamato was smiling slightly knowing what Taichi had really been trying to remind him about. “Don’t worry I’ll head home,” Yamato reassured him.

“I’ll drop you off since Hikari, Kohana and I are going to try again. If it works I’ll also come to fetch you,” Luna told him.

“Thank you,” Yamato said gratefully and Luna nodded as she opened a door. The four of them and their Digimon walked through it.

After she had dropped Yamato off at his apartment Luna, Hikari, and Kohana along with their Digimon went to the nightmare realm once again. They repeated the process once again and waited for something to happen. They had been waiting for about an hour when Kitsumon suddenly appeared as he walked out of a doorway. “Now isn’t this nice?” he said grinning behind his mask.

Luna stepped out from behind the rock she was hiding behind her purple skeleton key now almost as tall as she was. “Yes it is!” She shouted as she lifted the key staff as high as she could then shoved it with all her strength into the ground. When the key impacted with the ground it caused a small explosion that made her hair fly backwards as well as tugged at her skirt. The effects of what she had done where almost seen instantaneously as a Chinese dragon whose scales where black and eyes red as rubies came flying out of nowhere and tackled Kitsumon to the ground. “Oh great I didn’t think I’d get him!” Luna shouted as the key shrank back to normal size and she ran over to Kohana to wake her up.

“Why? What’s wrong with him?” Tsumon asked as he watched Kitsumon have to stop the dragon from biting into his shoulder. Anything that was willing to fight against Kitsumon at the moment couldn’t be all that bad. Especially when it was as cool looking as that dragon!

Luna tapped the key once again on Kohana’s forehead and once she was awake she helped her stand up. “Because he is something that won’t hesitate to attack us if he wants to, but he should cause Kitsumon to do something,” Luna told him as she turned to look at Kitsumon slightly worried because of the appearance of the dragon.

“Why would he attack us?” Hikari asked as Tailmon got in front of them in case the dragon or Kitsumon attacked. With two different enemies to worry about the cat Digimon was wishing they had brought someone with them.

“He’s not very friendly even though he’s supposed to help protect this place… He’s more upset that Trace got the realm as soon as he did then anything else and is probably even more so now that he has most likely figured out that Trace is no longer holding the key,” Luna said not wanting to go into further details at the moment since Kitsumon just managed to toss the dragon off of him. Kitsumon stood up quickly and much like Luna had done he allowed the black skeleton key to grow to the size of a staff. Then he slammed in into the ground getting the same small explosion she got.

:: Digital World: Tunnels ::

Lee’s bright green skeleton key was once again floating in front of Wizarmon’s staff which was glowing. Then Lee’s key also began to glow and Wizarmon looked at Krista. “I got them!”

:: Nightmare Realm ::

Just as soon as he had come the dragon left again with a growl of annoyance and Kitsumon turned to look at Tailmon and the others. “I should have known this was too nice of a set up!” he shouted as he drew his katana. Luna ignored him as she quickly opened a door way up and everyone ran through it. There was no reason for them to stick around anymore since he had done exactly what they wanted him to do!

:: Digital World: Tunnels ::

Luna and the others went running up to the others after Luna had picked up Yamato like she had promised just in time to see Kitsumon appear in front of them. “Like hell you’re going to get them!” he shouted knowing just what he had fallen for when he spotted Wizarmon in possession of Lee’s key. Gabumon and Agumon evolved to their Ultimate stage then Jogress evolved to Omegamon. Following their lead V-mon and Wormon also Jogress evolved to Paildramon then evolved to Imperialdramon switching to Fighter Mode as soon as they could. Not wanting to be left out of the fight Tailmon also evolved to Ofanimon.

“I liked to see you stop us!” Omegamon shouted as he flew at Kitsumon. “Grey Sword!” he shouted attacking Kitsumon with his sword while Kitsumon blocked with his. Ofanimon came up behind him attempting to impale him with her javelin. He growled and withdrew his katana as he dropped down to sweep Omegamon’s feet out from under him. The Knight Digimon retreated while Ofanimon twirled her javelin and slammed it down on top of Kitsumon.

Krista took advantage of him being distracted and used a door to get past him with the Chosen Children that were not in the fight as well as Lexi, Lee, Bearmon, Elecmon, Patamon, and Rascmon. Luna on the other hand would stay behind in order to help chase after Kitsumon if he should use a doorway.

“Let’s hope they can keep his attention long enough to find them!” Krista shouted as they ran down the tunnel in the direction Wizarmon had sensed Trace was at. They hadn’t gone very far down the tunnel when they suddenly ran into another group of Digimon.

Hawkmon evolved to Holsmon while Piyomon evolved to Garudamon. “We’ll take care of this you guys keep going!” Sora shouted.

Krista turned to look at the others. “I’ll stay as well,” she said and grabbed Lee’s key from Wizarmon handing it back to him. “As long as you have a hold of it Lee you’ll know where they’re at,” Krista explained to him.

“Alright,” Lee told her as the rest continued to run down the tunnels. Once again they didn’t get very far before they ran into another group of Digimon this one larger than the last one. This time Armadimon evolved to Digmon, Tentomon evolved to AtlurKabuterimon, and Palmon evolved to Lilimon.

“Go!” Iori shouted at the others as his and the other Digimon intercepted the other Digimon to keep them from blocking the tunnel. Lexi and Elecmon went to join them while the rest continued down the tunnel.

“It should be just ahead!” Lee shouted as they entered a tunnel that was descending.

“Let’s just hope we don’t run into anymore Digimon,” Jou said as they ran. Right when they entered another area that opened up to into a large cavern with a ton of cells in the wall Kitsumon appeared in the middle of the area.

“You just had to say it didn’t you, Jou!” Gomamon groaned right before he evolved to Zudamon.

“He must have managed to escape Luna and the others!” Rascmon shouted. Then, suddenly, Patamon evolved to Seraphimon and Rascmon also managed to evolve to his Adult stage Kusarimon. Kusarimon was now as big as Garurumon was and his flame like fur still had the black areas but the rest of the colors had been replaced with white. The piercing on his one ear had remained, but his eyes had changed to a milky blue. Around his neck was a thick leather collar the clasp facing the front while there was a thick black chain dangling from the back of it. On both of his front legs were metal shackles that also had the thick black chains up to five links long attached to them.

“Takeru and Trace are here,” Seraphimon commented.

“So you got lucky,” Kitsumon sneered.

“I’d say it’s more than luck! White Blaze!” shouted Kusarimon as he shot the white flames from his mouth at Kitsumon.

Kitsumon was easily able to block the attack with this sword. “Didn’t you learn last time you where no match for me! Blade of the Winds!” Kitsumon shouted and slashed the sword at Kusarimon. Kusarimon jumped to the side while a crescent shaped mark appeared in the ground where he had been standing.

“I can still dodge your attacks!” Kusarimon shouted.

“And he isn’t alone in this either! Excalibur!” Seraphimon shouted as he flew at Kitsumon to attack him with his sword. Much like he had done with Omegamon, Kitsumon blocked the attack with his katana.

While the two Ultimate Digimon where in a sword lock Lee, Jou, Kohana, Tsumon, and Bearmon ran past them to get to the cells. It wasn’t hard to find which one they wanted because Trace was standing up near the bars. “Trace!” Lee shouted and ran over. When he reached the cell he reached through it in an attempt to hug his brother.

Trace smiled and patted him on the head. “Nice to see you too, Lee,” he said as he looked at Kohana and Jou.

“How is Takeru doing?” Jou asked as he and Kohana reached the cell.

“I’ve been better,” Takeru said as he slowly sat up. “How did you guys find us?”

“We’ll tell you that later first we have to get you out of here,” Kohana told him.

“I’ll work on that!” Lee said as he located the lock on the cell hoping he could undo it with his key. Behind them Kitsumon managed to push Seraphimon away from him and he turned his attention to those who were behind him.

“No you don’t!” he shouted and ran at them ready to attack them with his sword. Both Tsumon and Bearmon rushed forward to try and protect their partners from this side while the three Digimon in the back also tried to help. A flash of light came from both Lee and Kohana’s Digivice causing both Tsumon and Bearmon to evolve.

Bearmon evolved to a giant purple bear Digimon about the same size as Garurumon. The fur on the back of his upper shoulders was puffier in appearance to the rest of his fur. Unlike his previous form he was stuck on all fours with the two front ones being larger than the back ones with red gauntlets on them that had white spikes coming from his three knuckles and three white large claws for each paw. At the wrist the gauntlets where golden while behind the gold was brown with small round mounds around it. On each shoulder he had a red shoulder pad kept on by leather with three round white pegs on each. Upon his forehead was a white crescent moon. His hind paws also had three white claws and while smaller than the ones in the font they were still quite big. His name for his Adult stage was Gryzmon.

Tsumon evolved to an older humanoid form that if he wasn’t the size of Angemon could have been mistaken for a nineteen year old. His blond hair had been cut chin length except for a small pony tail in the back that reached his waist and all of the hair that wasn’t in the ponytail was brushed to the back spiked. As for his bangs they where chin length that was mainly kept to each side with one small bit of bangs that fell over his nose. His lavender eyes remained the same color, but now he had a lightning bolt shaped mark under his right one. His left hand was covered in a leather glove that went all the way up to the leather shoulder pad that rested there. The shoulder pad had straps that went across his bare chest to keep it on. On the forearm of his left arm over the leather glove was tied down a silver arm guard. His right shoulder was bare while as for his right arm he wore a leather glove that only went to his middle finger on his hand while it went half way up his upper arm. He also wore tan breeches that ended just below his knee where plain leather boots began. This form had also kept the six angelic wings of his previous form except near his back they had a light yellow tint to them. His name for his Adult stage was En’zakamon.

The two newly evolved Adult Digimon rushed at Kitsumon and they were able to push him away from the humans into Seraphimon because he was surprised by their sudden evolution. Seraphimon took the opportunity they gave him to throw Kitsumon away from the humans. Before he could land on the ground, both Zudamon and Kusarimon attacked him at the same time in hopes of keeping him off balance for now.

“I can’t open it!” Lee whined as he looked up at his older brother. Trace could clearly see the fear in his brother’s eyes.

Trace smiled sadly down at his brother. “You know that won’t work here Lee,” Trace reminded him wishing there was something he could do to stop his brother from panicking. He never had been good under pressure and right now when he had no doubt Lee knew just how bad things were he had a good deal of pressure on him.

“Then I’ll just find something to break this stuff!” Lee shouted as he clenched his key tightly in his two hands next to his chest as he closed his eyes and concentrated.

“That won’t work either Lee! You need to get out of here before you get your Digimon killed!” Trace shouted and Lee ignored him.

Takeru stood up and leaned against the wall of the cell so he could walk up to the bars as well. “He’s right Kohana. You guys need to get out of here,” Takeru told her.

Kohana shook her head. “The others will catch up with us soon then we can get you out of here,” Kohana reassured him a smile on her face.

“You’re not very good at lying Kohana,” Takeru told her as he smiled softly.

Kitsumon stood up and rushed at the humans again. “Blade of the Winds!” he shouted attacking them. Kusarimon used his quick movement to get in front of them to block the attack but it caused him to devolve to his Baby 1 stage, Alamon which was nothing more than a small round white puff ball with dog ears and tail that where too big for its body. His golden eyes remained but they where large in size like most Baby 1 Digimon.

“Alamon!” Trace shouted and Jou ran out to fetch him as En’Zakamon tackled Kitsumon to keep him from attacking again.

“You really are foolish!” Kitsumon shouted at him.

“Call it what you want, but I will not allow you to harm Kohana or the others!” En’zakamon shouted back.

“Tell me how you plan to stop me? Claws of Demise!” Kitsumon shouted slashing at En’zakamon with his red claws. The attack sent him flying into a wall and when he hit the ground he has devolved to his Baby 1 stage as well known as Hanemon. Hanemon was a small round Digimon with soft feathery wings on his back and three spikes on his head with large lavender eyes.

“No, Hanemon!” Kohana shouted as she ran over to him.

By then Jou was back at the cell with Alamon in one hand. Takeru grabbed hold of his shoulder to get him to look at him. “Jou, you have to get them out of here! If this keeps up your going to get yourselves killed!” Takeru pleaded. Takeru knew right now Jou would probably be the only one in the group that was calm enough to realize just how much trouble they were. It was one of the main reasons Takeru knew he would make a great doctor because he could remain calm under pressure now that he was older.

Jou looked at the other two Digimon who were still fighting Kitsumon and he knew Takeru was right as only Seraphimon with the other Ultimate Digimon had a chance against him. “Alright I’ll get them out of here,” Jou said and Takeru let him go smiling with relief. Jou removed the messenger bag from his shoulder, the same one with the medical supplies, and handed it to Trace. “Here it might have something to help Takeru,” Jou told him.

“Thank you Jou,” Trace said as he looked at Alamon then his brother. Jou nodded as he grabbed Lee by the shoulder and began to drag him away from the cell.

“Wait what about them?” Lee shouted as he struggled to get free of Jou’s grip. Lee had to admit for such a geeky looking guy he sure did have a lot of strength.

“We won’t do him any good if we’re dead,” Jou told him then turned to look at Kohana. “Kohana we’re leaving! Seraphimon, Zudamon, and Gryzmon pull back!” Jou shouted as loud as he could so they could hear him over the fighting.

Seraphimon took one look around the cave and realized just why Jou had decided to retreat. The angelic Digimon did not like the idea of leaving Takeru behind when they were so close to him, but right now he knew he had to worry about the ones outside of the cell. “You go first Gryzmon,” Seraphimon told him.

“Alright be careful,” Gryzmon said as he ran to go meet up with the humans.

“I’m not leaving without Trace and Takeru!” Lee shouted as Gryzmon devolved to Bearmon. Bearmon walked over to him and snatched his key from him.

“And I’m not going to let you kill yourself!” The bear Digimon snapped at him. Trace might have been Lee’s brother and Takeru had helped them when they needed it but for Bearmon the person he had to worry about the most was Lee.

Lee looked at him wide eyed. “You can’t use that…” he stated and Bearmon could tell that Lee really believed he couldn’t.

Bearmon narrowed his eyes. “Just watch me,” he told him as he held the key out in front of him like he had seen the others do before and sure enough a door appeared there. He opened it up and Jou shoved Lee through it then he turned his attention to Kohana who had walked over to them.

“Please tell me you’re not going to give me the same trouble he is…” Jou said as he had to keep Lee from trying to run out again. Kohana kept her eyes to the ground as she shook her head and walked through the door way without saying anything. Jou sighed then looked towards Zudamon and Seraphimon. Together the two of them manage to send Kitsumon flying then they devolve to their child stage and hurried through the door Jou following them. Bearmon was the last to go through it and as he closed the door he looked over at Takeru and Trace.

“For their sake stay alive,” he told them before the door was fully closed.

“I didn’t think he could be that reckless,” Trace said as he looked at Takeru ignoring the fit Kitsumon was having since Patamon managed to escape. He would have to warn Krista about this if he managed to see her again.

Takeru looked at him. “Thankfully Jou was with them,” Takeru said as he sank to his knees. Trace walked over to him opening the bag up to see what was inside.

“Yes,” Trace agreed with him as he began to treat the wound on Takeru’s chest. “Good job on hiding just how bad things were. They wouldn’t have left otherwise” Trace told him. He was slightly surprised that Takeru had managed to stay standing as long as he did. Takeru just nodded his head too tired to speak.

:: Digital World: Forest ::

“Where are we?” Jou asked as he looked around the forest they were in. He could tell they were still in the Digital World.

“This is the area Lee first showed up. It was easiest for me to just come here,” Bearmon told him as he looked at Lee. The young boy was sitting on the ground crying because of what had happened.

Jou sighed. “Here can you hold him?” Jou asked holding Alamon out to Bearmon. Bearmon nodded and gently took a hold of the small Digimon. Bearmon was a bit shocked when he realized the small Digimon was shivering. Then he realized Alamon was probably trying hard to keep from joining Lee in crying. He hugged the small Digimon to his chest and Alamon cuddled up as close as he could to him.

Jou took Ken’s d-terminal out of his sweater vest pocket glad he hadn’t put it in his bag when he gotten it from Ken when he had first shown up. He opened it up and sent a message to the others telling them what had happened. Lee stopped crying for a moment when he noticed what Jou was doing and stood up walking over to Jou so he could snatch the D-terminal from him. “What are you doing?” Jou asked looking at him.

“Telling Krista and the others what I found out about that cell Takeru and Trace where in,” He explained as he quickly typed another message and sent it out to the other D-terminals unsure just which one would get to his sister. Right now he was just a little to peeve about what had happened to be polite. Maybe when he had calmed down later he would apologize to Jou… Maybe…

:: Digital World: Tunnels ::

After Kitsumon had fled to where Luna couldn’t follow him Taichi and the others had continued through the tunnels. They had met up with Sora, Miyako and Krista and had helped them take care of the few remaining Digimon there. Once they were taken care of they went further into the tunnels running into Lexi and the others who had managed to finish the fighting without the others help there. In fact they had almost began to move further down the tunnels when Taichi and the others arrived so the group continued on together. It was when they were half way from that point in reaching the dungeon area that they received the message first from Jou. Then a few seconds later the one from Lee detailing what information he had found out about the cell Takeru and Trace where held in.

While the boy hadn’t been able to find out just what could destroy the strange black stuff he was able to give a few details on it. Like how he believed the only reason he had been unable to open the lock was not because of the black stuff blocking him but because of the natural block the Digital World had on their ability to unlock all locks. The young boy did not think there was anything that could destroy it besides whatever Kitsumon used so the only thing they could do was hope Wizarmon could use Krista’s key to open the lock since her key was the most powerful out of all the others. He also told them how it had been Bearmon, not him, that had made the door that allowed them to escape…

“Do you think you can do it Wizarmon?” Krista asked as they rushed for the large area that contained the cells.

“I will only know for certain once I reach the area,” Wizarmon told her not wanting to give her false information. However, when the group managed to reach the dungeon Kitsumon was nowhere to be found. Neither where Trace or Takeru…

“Damn it!” Yamato shouted as he hoped off Omegamon’s back. They had been so close!

“Now what do we do?” Hikari asked as she looked at her older brother.

Taichi stood beside Omegamon for a while thinking about everything that had happened then sighed. “There is nothing we can do at the moment. The one lead we had is now gone. For now I think the best plan would be to head back to the real world get the Digimon fed so they’ll be able to fight again then continue our search,” Taichi told them.

Krista, who had been walking around the place while Taichi thought, shook her head as she turned her attention to the Chosen Children. “I don’t think he’s in the Digital World anymore…” she told them.

They all turned their attention Krista. “Care to explain?” Yamato asked as he tried to keep his temper in check.

“Think about it. If you’re a Digimon intent on keeping the two humans you caught would you really keep them in a place where their friends know even better than their own world?” she asked them.

“Then where could he have gone?” Koushirou countered.

“With my brothers key any where he wished as long as he knew it,” Lexi answered as she picked Elecmon up and hugged him. “But there is one place he would favor above all others…”

“I think I know just which one,” Yamato said remembering the discussion with Rascmon that had happened.

“We’ll need to talk to your little brother, Krista,” Iori said also knowing what Yamato was thinking of.

“For now I think it would be best to follow Taichi’s idea on getting the Digimon fed… Then we can talk to Lee,” Krista told them. “It won’t do any good to chase after him just to repeat what happened earlier because the stronger Digimon can’t evolve.”

:: Earlier ::

After he had finished with his fit Kitsumon had turned his attention back to his two prisoners. Trace was glad his fit had given him enough time to treat Takeru’s wounds as well as give him some of the medicine that was packed in the bag in hopes of fighting whatever it was Kitsumon had done to him. “It seems they didn’t think this little stunt of theirs through completely,” Kitsumon commented as he walked over to the cell.

“It seemed to annoy you enough,” Trace commented as he watched Kitsumon approach. To his shock the damned fox Digimon took his key out and unlocked the cell. Trace literally dove for him intent to destroy him once he got his hands on him, but Kitsumon dodged him and Trace fell to the floor only to have Kitsumon stab the smaller of his two swords through the fabric of the gloves Trace was wearing making sure to avoid Trace’s flesh while he did it.

“You forgot to remove these first,” He reminded Trace grinning slightly and it was then Trace realized where the black stuff came from.

“ _Fuck_! You little bastard, you copied  my gloves!” Trace shouted at him as he gave the Digimon the best glare he could muster. The gloves where there as a safety precaution, he had worn for as long as he could remember and the only ones who know had to make them until now had been his parents. The gloves had the ability to become larger as he grew something his parents had done to them when they knew they were close to death. He also had a feeling the pair he was wearing now where the same ones, just slightly modified by Kitsumon to help keep him warmer. As for why he had them as a kid he had the bad tendency of destroying things he didn’t mean to and it was only the palm of his hands that normally had this ability thus why his fingers could remain uncovered.

“Heh, took you long enough to figure that one out,” Kitsumon said as he moved Trace’s other hand closer to the one the sword had pinned and shackled them together. Since he was still wearing his gloves when the shackles went on he could no longer take them off sense the shackles had been made to fit his wrist quite tightly. The shackles where made out of normal metal due to this. There was a bit of chain between the shackles to where he could move his arms somewhat away from each other. When he was certain Trace’s ability was secured he removed his sword and sheathed it.

Trace moved into a sitting position as Kitsumon went to fetch Takeru. The blonde teen was half out of it by then so he really didn’t put up much of a fight. It was easy for Kitsumon to lead him out of the cell and over to Trace. Trace stood up as Kitsumon shoved Takeru at him and the older teen did the best he could to keep the younger from falling. The fox Digimon then used the key to open a door way up. “In you go or I’ll kill blonde sooner then I’d like,” Kitsumon threatened.

“I will kill you,” Trace threatened in return as he helped Takeru walk through the door way.

“I would love to see how you accomplish that one,” Kitsumon sneered as he followed them through the doorway and it closed. Trace and Takeru both glanced around the place they were at now which was a large forest. The ground beneath them was moist with very large ferns growing from it while the tree’s themselves where red woods. The tree’s where thick but due to the nature of the tree’s they couldn’t block the sunlight that managed to break through to the forest floor. Trace felt what little hope he had began to crumble knowing it wasn’t likely that his siblings and Takeru’s friends would be able to find them here.

_Just fucking great!_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N – And here is Jou proving once again that when the moment calls for it he can take charge. Also Bearmon shows that he isn’t just there to be all nice to Lee, but also there to keep him from doing stupid things. While Lee proves he can be a bit of a brat when upset xD Also I was nice enough to explain Bearmon’s adult stage since he was one not everyone might have seen compared to the rest of the cannon Digimon. It was good practice as well : 3 (Not to mention it helped me reach 50K XD I used this for NaNoWriMo ’11). Which I will also be using this for Camp NaNoWriMo June ’12 since I have added a whole wooping 8k of words since November *sighs*


	6. Chapter Six An Angel Among us

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copy righted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it’s Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copy right for it.

_Trace moved into a sitting position as Kitsumon went to fetch Takeru. The blonde teen was half out of it by then so he really didn’t put up much of a fight. It was easy for Kitsumon to lead him out of the cell and over to Trace. Trace stood up as Kitsumon shoved Takeru at him and the older teen did the best he could to keep the younger from falling. The fox Digimon then used the key to open a door way up. “In you go or I’ll kill Blonde sooner then I’d like,” Kitsumon threatened._

“ _I will kill you,” Trace threatened in return as he helped Takeru walk through the door way._

“ _I would love to see how you accomplish that one,” Kitsumon sneered as he followed them through the doorway and it closed. Trace and Takeru both glanced around the place they were at now which was a large forest. The ground beneath them was moist with very large ferns growing from it while the tree’s themselves where red woods. The tree’s where thick but due to the nature of the tree’s they couldn’t block the sunlight that managed to break through to the forest floor. Trace felt what little hope he had began to crumble knowing it wasn’t likely that his siblings and Takeru’s friends would be able to find them here._

Just fucking great!

 

“This is the… place he brought Kohana too…” Takeru mumbled as he fought to stay awake causing Trace to turn his attention to the teen. Maybe there was a chance for them to be found here after all?

“No this is the place Tsumon brought her,” Kitsumon corrected him as they continued to walk. While they walked Trace continued to survey the area while also making sure Takeru didn’t fall. Almost every other step had the younger teen stumbling and with how little movement Trace was now aloud with his arms it wasn’t easy to keep him standing. After Takeru had fallen and it had taken a good deal of effort on both their parts to get him to stand again Trace had lowered his arms over Takeru’s head to rest both hands on Takeru’s left hip while he had Takeru rest his right arm across his shoulders. This made it to where most of Takeru’s weight was resting against Trace as they walked, but it kept him from falling again.

It was about half an hour of walking later that put them very close to a slope that was slick with mud and Trace, who was the one closest to it, had almost slipped a few times because of it. It was around the fifth time that this had happened that he realized just how he could use this slippery slope to his advantage. “Sorry Takeru this may hurt,” he whispered to the younger teen who slowly nodded. Whether he really heard Trace or not the older teen was unsure. Trace waited until Kitsumon wasn’t paying a whole lot of attention to them then he purposely stepped on the slippery slope and shifted all his weight towards it. This time he didn’t try to stop himself from sliding down it and with the way he had been supporting Takeru he was dragged down with him.

Trace could hear Kitsumon yelling above them and felt one of his attacks fly over them. As soon as the ground leveled out he pulled Takeru to his feet then he forced Takeru to run with him before Kitsumon was smart enough to come down and fetch them. Trace didn’t allow Takeru to stop until he had found a hollow log large enough to hide in and the two of them quickly got inside of it.

“Your right that did hurt,” Takeru told him as he laid his head back against the log. After what had just happened he was more awake for the moment and Trace took it as a good sign.

“Well at least we got away from him,” Trace said trying to wipe some of the mud off himself, but soon he gave up when he realized how futile it was. Thankfully none of it had managed to get into his boots _that_ would have been annoying.

“Now what?” Takeru asked turning his head slightly to look at him.

Trace sighed thumping the back of his head on the log. “I didn’t think that far ahead,” he stated truthfully having only been worried about getting away from Kitsumon at the time. “If only Calilimon was still around we could really use her mirror right about now…”

“Her mirror?” Takeru questioned.

“Yeah it has an ability similar to my key… Patamon should have told you about it when he got back,” Trace said looking at him with slight concern. He highly doubted that the small Digimon hadn’t told Takeru about the mirror.

“Kind of hard to think at the moment with how much my head is hurting,” Takeru admitted with a slight sigh. It really was like his mind was covered in a fog for the moment.

“It doesn’t matter any way. Calilimon is gone,” Trace mumbled now getting tired himself from the power drain Kitsumon had given him earlier to manipulate the nightmare realm on top of what he had used to keep waking Takeru up. He had known as soon as he had done it to because it had given him the sudden feeling of falling which always disoriented him. He really was running on the last dregs of power he had left. Which was why, it didn’t take him very long at all to fall asleep and Takeru right behind him.

-X-

“Oh, Takeru-kun! You know it’s dangerous to sleep right now!” Takeru heard someone say and he turned around in time to see Calilimon cross her arms over her chest with a small pouty lip even.

“Calilimon?” he questioned wondering what was going on this time. He prayed it wasn’t another Kitsumon nightmare he _really_ didn’t feel like dealing with one of those on top of everything that had already happened.

She sighed then spoke, “I can’t blame you I guess… Kitsumon’s poison has come a long way from just making wounds unable to stop bleeding. You really need Patamon’s help right now… Do you still have your D-terminal with you?”

Takeru thought then nodded his head. “Yes only because Kitsumon knows it doesn’t work so he saw no point in taking it,” he answered.

Calilimon grinned then clapped her hands together. “Good! When you wake up it should be working so use it! Tell the others where you are!” she ordered.

Takeru stared at her in confusion. “How?”

“Oh just wake up!” she shouted at him.

-X-

Much to Takeru’s shock he did manage to wake up and he reached into his pants pocket to pull out his D-terminal and his D-3 on accident at the same time. For a moment he thought he saw the D-3 in the gold and green color but after blinking it was normal. He shook his head and put it back in his pocket then turned his attention to his D-terminal. Previous attempts to use it during the past five months had resulted in the e-mails not being sent out. At the moment it didn’t even occur to him that even if it was somehow miraculously working that it shouldn’t even be able to send an e-mail out to the others when he was in another realm. For now he just turned it on and selected a random contact on his list since he was having a hard time focusing on the screen. He then very slowly typed a message out and sent it.

:: Real World ::

The Chosen Children had decided it would just be faster to go to a fast food restaurant and order something there for their Digimon. The one they picked happen to be one that had started adding things to their menu for Digimon so there wasn’t really much trouble. Iori was sitting at a booth watching Armadimon eat his third hamburger when he heard his D-terminal beep. Over all the noise in the place he was the only one that heard it. He pulled it out of the pocket of the sweater he was wearing and opened it up. When he saw just who it was from his eyes widened as he read it:

in redwood forest realm escape Kitsumon for now please hurry

When he was done reading it he quickly stood up. “Iori what’s wrong?” Armadimon asked.

“I just got an e-mail from Takeru,” he told him and Miyako who was sitting across from him jumped up into a standing position.

“What?” She shouted not sure she had heard him correctly, but he ignored her for now as he ran over to the table Taichi, Yamato, and Sora where sitting at.

“Yamato quick read this!” Iori said as he handed the D-terminal to the older Chosen Child. Yamato blinked and did as he was told, but read it aloud so the others could hear it. He then turned to look at Iori when he was done.

“When did this come in?” Yamato asked as he and the others at the table stood up.

“Just now,” Iori told him and Yamato nodded as he went over to where Krista was at with her little brother to tell her about the e-mail while Taichi gathered up the Chosen Children. It didn’t take long for Krista and Lee to join them as they went outside. Right at this moment Krista didn’t care if someone else saw what they were doing so she allowed her brother and siblings to open doorways right in the middle of the side walk so everyone could get through to the area.

However, as soon as they arrived their luck seemed to run out because they ran smack dab into Kitsumon. “It didn’t take you long to figure this out,” Kitsumon commented as he watched the Digimon that could evolve to Ultimate do so. “I guess we get to play some more,” he said shaking his head. He’d have to figure out just how they knew to come here right at the moment he had managed to lose the two teenagers.

While the stronger Digimon concentrated on him the others fanned out to search for Takeru and the others. Kohana was searching with Hanemon, Bearmon, who still had Alamon, Lee and Patamon, who was with her since Yamato was part of the fighting, when Hanemon suddenly evolved back up to his child stage, Tsumon.

“He shouldn’t have been able to do that so fast…” Patamon commented from on top of Kohana’s head.

“Even with him just eating?” Kohana asked and she could feel Patamon shaking his head. The younger Digimon’s body hadn’t yet adapted to the need to eat and evolve quickly.

Tsumon was ignoring them for the moment as he seemed to be staring at something then he took off. Kohana quickly followed after him while Lee and Bearmon followed after her.“Tsumon where are you going?” Kohana asked as she chased after him.

“Can’t you guys see her?” Tsumon shouted over his shoulder as he continued to run.

“See who?” Lee asked as he tried to catch up to Kohana while Bearmon was catching up to Kohana.

“An angel! She says we have to hurry!” Tsumon told them as he continued to run.

“They always evolved around the same time as each other…” Patamon mumbled as he remembered something Calilimon had once said, but how was it possible? He shook his head again thinking there would be a better time to worry about it then right now.

Kohana, Lee, and Bearmon continued to follow Tsumon even when he led them down a slippery slope that they had to carefully descend. Lee ended up slipping right before the ground leveled out, but Tsumon helped him stand up then he continued to follow after his angel. The angelic Digimon then lead them to a hollow log and there inside of it was both Takeru and Trace sound asleep.

“Takeru-kun!” Kohana shouted as she ran over to him while Lee ran over to his brother.

“Trace wake up!” Lee shouted as he shook his older brother.

Trace slowly opened his eyes and looked at Lee. “How…? Never mind how is Takeru?” He asked shifting his position so he could look at Takeru.

“I can’t get him to wake up,” Kohana told him. Takeru’s breathing at this point was shallow to where it was hard to tell that he even was breathing and his face was extremely pale.

“Move!” Trace told her and she did as she was told while he moved over to Takeru and dragged him out of the log. “Patamon evolve to Holy Angemon right now!” Trace told him panic clearly in his voice as well as a bit of anger that was for himself not Patamon. How could he fall asleep! Patamon did as he was told and evolved to Holy Angemon. It wasn’t hard for him to figure out just what Trace wanted him to do.

“Holy Disinfection!” He shouted as he used his healing ability on Takeru which caused his breathing to return to normal but nothing else.

“It’s not doing enough we have to get him to a hospital now. Lee, come here,” Trace said and Lee walked over to him. “Now try and open a door way I’ll help you make it large enough so Holy Angemon can get through,” Trace told him.

“Alright,” Lee told him and held his key out in front of him. The door that appeared was to small but when Trace placed his hand on his brothers hand that was holding his key and closed his eyes to concentrate it became big enough for Holy Angemon to go through it.

Holy Angemon gently picked Takeru up as Lee opened the door. Trace turned to look at Kohana. “Go with him. Lee and I aren’t going to be much help right now,” he said as he glanced at his brother noting how tired he was while he himself was most likely going to pass out as soon as the door closed.

“Thank you,” Kohana told him as she followed Holy Angemon through the door. Tsumon then went through closing it behind them. The four of them where now in the middle of the park Takeru and Yamato had first met Trace in. Before they could leave Tsumon evolved to En’zakmona and picked Kohana up. The two Angelic Digimon then proceeded to fly towards the hospital while Kohana called Takeru’s mother on her cell phone to tell her what was going on.

-X-

Takeru knew he was asleep mainly because of the fact he was standing in his room leaning back against his desk while Calilimon was laying on her stomach on his bed her head propped up on her hands. He also knew that it was bad to sleep but since the angelic Digimon didn’t seem too concerned like she had the previous times he saw no reason to try and wake himself up. Suddenly the angelic Digimon giggled causing Takeru to smile. “What?” he asked out of curiosity.

“He called me an angel!” she answered and giggled some more. She would have rolled onto her back, but her wings wouldn’t allow her to.

“Who did?” Takeru wondered.

“Tsumon did! He looks different now…” she told him her index finger on her lip as she thought over just how much her brother’s appearance had changed.

Takeru nodded in agreement. “He looks more like you now,” he said as he glanced out the window. He couldn’t see anything out of it just whiteness. The teen had done it mainly out of habit since he somehow knew there wouldn’t be anything out there to look at.

“I wonder if that’s such a good thing,” Calilimon pondered and her comment caused Takeru to look at her again in slight alarm. She was now sitting up with her legs bent and crossed in front of her while her weight was resting on her hands that she had placed flat on the bed between her legs.

He pushed away from his desk and walked over to the bed sitting on the edge of it. “It means he’s whole again,” he told her, but even as he said he, Takeru wondered if it was true.

“Does it? And if so why am I still here?” she asked voicing exactly what Takeru was thinking at the moment.

“I… I don’t know… Aren’t you just something Trace did?”

Calilimon smiled softly and even though he had his back to her he knew that she did. He even knew when she shook her head in disagreement with him. “No, he did the thing with the D-3… I came on my own… So tell me Takeru-kun, why am I still here?”

Takeru slowly awoke though he kept his eyes closed for a moment as he thought over Calilimon’s question. It was a persistent, soft, beeping noise that finally made him open his eyes only to realize the sound was probably coming from the heart monitoring machine that was beside the bed he was in. His suspicions where confirmed on this when he noticed he was in a hospital gown and that there was an IV in his arm. His eyes narrowed slightly out of confusion wondering just how he had gotten there and why he was there. The last thing he could clearly remember was talking in that cell with Trace…

His eyes widened at remembering Trace as he attempted to sit up only to realize he couldn’t. This mixed with the panic of believing Trace was still in trouble caused the beeping of the heart monitor to pick up to match the rhythm of his fast beating heart. This caused Patamon, who had been asleep curled up into a ball on his stomach, to slowly wake up and lift his head. Right when the small Digimon realized Takeru was awake the white curtain that separated him from the rest of the world suddenly flew open revealing his parents and Yamato.

When his mother realized from the look on her son’s face that he was beginning to panic, she quickly moved to the side of the bed and took hold of his right hand. “It’s alright Takeru your safe,” his mother told him as she leaned forward to brush some of his bangs out of his face. Takeru shook his head and tried to tell her why he was upset but at first he was unable to say anything.

“Here, Takeru,” he heard Yamato say as his brother stepped up to the other side of the bed and helped him sit up. In his brother’s free hand was a cup with straw and he helped Takeru take a drink from it.

This time when he tried to talk he was able to. “Trace…” he mumbled and grimaced when he heard just how weak and raspy his voice sounded. His mother looked at him confused, but thankfully his brother seemed to understand what he was trying to say.

“Don’t worry Takeru. He’s safe as well,” Yamato told him as Patamon hopped up onto his shoulder. By then his mother had adjusted the bed into a sitting position so Yamato was able to let him lean back onto the bed.

“How…?” he questioned confusion clearly on his face.

Yamato blinked and stared at him. “You don’t remember?” he asked.

Natsuko turned her attention to her oldest son as she kept hold of Takeru’s hand. “Remember Yamato they said he might have trouble recalling things when he woke up,” she reminded him and Yamato nodded.

“We attempted to rescue the two of you, but failed. Jou, Kohana and Lee were able to reach the cell you and Trace where in. Kitsumon showed up right when they did, however, and they tried to fight. The only reason they were even able to stand up against him as long as they did was because Patamon had gone with them. They had to escape to keep from losing their Digimon. Jou told the rest of us what had happened, but when we got there…” Yamato paused and Takeru noted the pain expression that came over his face.

“Any way by the time we got there Kitsumon had moved you guys somewhere else. We retreated back to the real world in order to feed the Digimon so we could try again. While they were eating, Iori received an e-mail from you telling him that you and Trace were in the redwood forest realm and had managed to escape from him. When we arrived there we ran straight into Kitsumon. While Omegamon, Ofanimon and Imperial Dramon Fighter Mode fought him we searched for you. Lee and Kohana ended up finding you and Trace in the log and Kohana, Tsumon and Patamon brought you here,” Yamato finished deciding to go into more detail later on.

Suddenly his mother was hugging him very tightly and Takeru managed to wrap his right arm around his mother not even really trying to move his left since it had IV’s in it. When she started crying, however, he looked at his brother and father even more confused than he was before. “You slipped into a coma even before Haru-chan managed to get you to the hospital. They had no clue when you might wake up,” his father explained which caused Takeru’s eyes to widen.

“How… long?” Takeru asked.

“Three days, thankfully you pulled out of it quickly,” his father told him.

“I’m going to let the others know you’ve woken up… We’ve been guarding the hospital in shifts in case Kitsumon attacked,” Yamato told Takeru as he patted him on the arm he had on their mom’s back. He could tell by the look on his brother’s face he was mainly trying to leave before he himself started crying. Yamato pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and flipped it open as he walked out of the room. Patamon had hopped onto the bed before Yamato had left and he felt the small Digimon place his paws on his left hand.

-X-

It was five days before the hospital would allow him to check out which made it Sunday and thankfully by then he wasn’t feeling weak anymore. There were times he felt a little dizzy but the doctors had told him the feeling should go away after awhile. There were still a few holes in his memory, but Yamato had filled them in the best he could. He was going to have to wait until he saw Trace to fill in the rest of them though. He just hoped he saw the older teen sooner rather than later because from what Yamato had told him he seemed to owe a lot to him.

As he walked out of the hospitals front doors with Yamato and his parents he was greeted by the Chosen Children who had come to see him. Takeru smiled and walked over to them Yamato following to talk with them. It took him a minute to realize that Kohana was standing off to one side with Tsumon and to be honest he found it odd.

The blond teen watched as Tsumon stood on his tip toes so he could whisper something into her ear and took hold of hand. Once he had hold of her hand he tried to lead her over to the others but she wouldn’t move. Tsumon sighed and let go of her hand and looked towards Takeru. It wasn’t hard for Tsumon to figure out he had seen Kohana’s weird behavior and the angelic Digimon shrugged not really sure what was going on.

Takeru walked over to her to try and find out what was wrong. “Kohana-chan – “ Takeru started only, much to everyone’s shock, Kohana slapped him on the cheek hard enough to turn it red. Takeru placed a hand on his cheek and stared at her wide eyed. This was the last thing he would have expected someone like her to do.

“Don’t ever do something like that again! If Tsumon hadn’t seen her… Do you know what they said as they took you to the emergency room?” she shouted at him as she started to cry. At this point Takeru was very confused and he looked at Tsumon then at Patamon for help.

“They said they would be surprised if you managed to pull through and even if you did you would be in a coma with no way of knowing when if ever you’d come out of it,” Tsumon explained.

“Holy Angemon’s ability only cleared the poison out of your system, but by then it had caused an infection in your brain and as you know my ability can’t heal injuries on humans. It wasn’t until Krista snuck in that night and did something that they knew you would come out of it,” Patamon added.

Of course the only reason Kohana even knew what the staff had said was because Patamon had heard them and without thinking had told the others. The small Digimon had been shocked about what they had said and with what had happened that he had blurted it out. He regretted it right after he had said it even before he saw Kohana’s face paled and Tsumon lean against the wall in shock. The three of them had been by themselves at that point since the others had yet to arrive.

Takeru looked back at Kohana. He had known that most likely when he had done what he did to keep Iori and Kohana safe that the others would be upset, but he hadn’t really thought of just how upset it would make them. In all honesty he had never expected things to get as bad as they did. His parents and Yamato had already confronted him on what he had done while he was still in the hospital and quite frankly he had been expecting the others to do the same, but they hadn’t done so... yet. It was quite possible Kohana had beaten them to it. Takeru took a step towards her and gently hugged her. “I’m sorry…” he told her.

She lightly pounded on his chest with her fist at first, but then she grabbed a hold of the front of his shirt with both her hands. “An apology isn’t good enough…” she told him.

“What else can I do, then?” he asked at a loss of just what she was wanting at the moment.

Kohana slowly shook her head and whispered, “You’ll never agree to it… I already know that…”

He blinked and asked, “Agree to what?”

“To promise to not do something like that again,” she told him and looked up at him.

“I…” Takeru hesitated knowing that he really couldn’t make that promise because he knew he would do it again if it meant keeping his friends safe.

Kohana sighed and pulled back as she wiped the tears off her face with the back of her hand. “I have to head home since I’m supposed to babysit Katsu…” she told him then ran off with Tsumon following and Takeru watched her.

He sighed then said, “I really can’t make that promise.” His shoulders slumped slightly as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.

Yamato walked over to Takeru and pat him on the shoulder. “If I thought you would I already would have made you promise,” he told his younger brother.

Takeru nodded then turned his attention to Hikari. “She’s mad at me isn’t she?” he asked

Hikari shook her head before answering, “Not mad Takeru, more upset and scared than anything else. In all honesty, though, she really is supposed to be babysitting Katsu for her mom today…” Of course what Hikari didn’t tell him was that Kohana had kept it hidden from her parents that Takeru was being released from the hospital today since she knew her parents wouldn’t have asked her to babysit if they knew. He could find that one out on his own if he did. She wasn't going to help him out this time.

-X-

Calilimon was sitting on Takeru’s desk while he was sitting on the foot of his bed. “I never thought Kohana-chan had it in her to slap someone,” Calilimon commented then looked at Takeru.

Takeru rubbed his cheek which was still slightly red. “You can thank your brother for that,” Takeru told her. Kohana had really opened up thanks to Tsumon’s influence to where she was talking more then she used to and she had managed to make friends outside of the Chosen Children.

Calilimon nodded then looked down as she began kicking her legs like a little kid who was waiting for something to happen. “Don’t worry she really does understand why you can’t make her that promise.”

Takeru hadn’t expected her to say that so he asked, “She does?”

Calilimon smiled softly and looked up at him. “Yes because she would have done the same thing if she was in your place…”

-X-

The next day Takeru was at home since the hospital told him to take the day off from school. At the moment he was catching up on the days he had missed. Since they had found Trace and the sisters as well Lee and Bearmon was no longer staying with them which meant he and Patamon where currently by themselves. Of course his mother had extracted a promise that if anything at all happened he would call her immediately. Patamon was glad for being able to stay at home because it meant he could hang out with Takeru all day while Takeru was glad he had the chance to get caught up on school as well as think over things that had recently happened.

It was a little past noon when the doorbell rang and Takeru went to answer it. He was a bit surprised to find Luna, Trace, Rascmon and Bithamon at the door. Trace had gotten his bangs trimmed slightly; they still fell into his eyes, but didn’t cover them completely while the rest of his hair was back to waist length. He had also changed cloths to a pair of black baggy shorts and a plain black t-shirt. The gloves where once again fingerless and his boots had been replaced with sneakers. Due to him now wearing a shot sleeve shirt Takeru could see some burn scars on his arms and he had a feeling the bandages that were also on his arms covered more burn marks. Something else seemed different about him but Takeru couldn’t figure out just what it was.

“What happened to your cheek?” Trace asked as he noticed it was red.

“Ah, Kohana-chan was upset with what happened and slapped me on the cheek,” Takeru answered.

Trace blinked. “I never thought she’d do something like that,” Trace told him truthfully.

“A lot has happened since you where captured… Besides I probably would have done the same thing,” Luna said as she looked at her brother. She had almost decked him for all the trouble he had caused. The only thing that had prevented her from doing so was because she believed he had suffered enough for the stupid things he had done.

“Any ways please come in,” Takeru said as he stepped back to let them in. Luna and Trace switched their shoes for slippers then followed Takeru into the living room. The two sat down on the couch while Takeru sat in the recliner. As for Rascmon he lay by Trace’s feet and Patamon sat on the arm of the recliner. Bithamon, however, jumped up into Takeru’s lap and looked up at him.

“Hello I am Bithamon,” she told him with a smile on her face.

“It’s nice to meet you, Bithamon,” Takeru responded and the cat-like Digimon lay down in his lap purring softly. Takeru blinked and looked up at Luna for an explanation.

“She does that a lot,” Luna explained and shrugged. Her family had already gotten use to the fact the cat Digimon liked to love up to people. Takeru must have been feeling off for the cat Digimon to pick him otherwise she probably would have been in Trace’s lap. When Trace had spent the first day back sleeping the cat Digimon had shared the bed with him and Rascmon and since he had woken up she had stuck to him. It was a warning to her that something was still upsetting her brother as well. Bithamon always comforted those who where sad, sick or just upset.

“Any way, Krista told us you were doing okay, but I wanted to come check to make sure,” Trace explained. He was still feeling a bit guilty about what had happened and had been afraid Krista had only said that in an attempt to reassure him.

“Just what exactly did your sister do to me?” Takeru asked out of curiosity.

“She made sure that destiny followed its correct course,” Luna explained.

“Another words we don’t know,” Trace added and Luna glared at him wondering why he had to cheapen what she had said. Trace just shrugged grinning slightly. Maybe he wasn’t as upset as she thought.

“Actually I’m glad the two of you are here there is something I want to tell you,” Takeru said then he explained the dreams he’d been having that involved Calilimon. When he was done the twins looked at each other.

“What?” Takeru asked.

“It’s just that originally Krista was going to borrow Luna’s key and do whatever it is she does while you slept to help keep it hidden. However…” Trace began.

“However she found you’re dreams locked or a better term completely disconnected from my realm,” Luna finished.

“The only thing that even remotely comes close to this is when someone is suffering from amnesia. They are forcefully disconnected from Lee’s realm,” Trace told him.

“Then reconnected in a different area to store their new memories. The fact that even Krista, the only one of us that has almost no limits can’t even access your dreams is alarming,” she further explained.

Trace nodded then said, “Even more so since your nightmares are still accessible. Krista even doubled checked to make sure you were still connected to the nightmare realm.”

“Could Kitsumon have done something?” Takeru questioned.

“With whatever he did to you it might be possible,” Trace said with a shrug.

“Calilimon, if it really is her might be making use of whatever he did to help… Or…” She stated hesitating for a moment to go farther.

“Or what?” Takeru asked wanting to fully understand what was happening to him.

Luna sighed and continued with what she was saying, “Coma’s usually mean there was some type of damage to your brain. She could just be something your brain is doing to cope with the damage. Or with the guilt of what happened to her.”

“I vote it’s the first one,” Trace said. He didn’t mean the coma one, but the fact that she might actually be helping Takeru.

Luna smacked him on the back of his head. “Your vote doesn’t count,” she told him knowing full well why he would want her to still be alive.

Takeru sat there for a moment and thought over what they said before deciding it would probably be a good idea to change the subject for now. “I’m not sure that I fully understand about what you said earlier… What do you mean my dreams are disconnected from the Dream Realm?” he asked.

“You’ve been to the nightmare realm right?” Trace asked Takeru and Takeru nodded. “Lu can you give me a sketch pad and a pencil please?” he asked looking at his twin.

Luna removed a card from her pouch a flash of light later and it was a pencil and sketch pad. “Here,” she said handing them to him.

He drew a tiny circle and filled it in. “Okay that is the willow in the center of the nightmare realm. If you where to go a hundred feet in any direction you’ll either hit a fence or a gate,” he started then he drew a larger circle around the dot adding arches to it to signify the gates. “The gates are locked and can only be opened with my key or Kris’s key. Pass each gate is a stone path,” he said as he drew a line from each gate. “There are about ten gates and all paths intersect at some point. The further you go down one path the more paths you find,” he told Takeru and drew more lines from the ones from the gate to represent the different paths. “At some point you’ll hit an island,” he explained as he drew a circle at the end of one path then continued, “Each island represents someone’s “nightmares”. Lu’s realm is the same as mine in design while different in appearance. Each island has four paths that lead to it,” he said as he added three more paths to the circle. “In your islands case the paths are broken,” he began as he erased the part of the paths that where touching the circle, “and without anything keeping it in place it is drifting in the open space of the Dream Realm. At least we think it is…”

“As it is right now we can’t find it and even if we did there is no telling if I could fix,” Luna told him.

“Then you think Calilimon isn’t real?” he asked.

Luna sighed. “In all honesty, I don’t know what to think. Nothing like this has happened before… In this case, Takeru, I think what you believe is more important right now,” she told him.

“As long as she doesn’t start behaving weird it really shouldn’t matter if she is real or not Takeru since it seems she’s helping you sort through what has happened to you lately,” Trace told him even if he really did hope she was real. If she was still alive then he would have at least one less nightmare to worry about when he did have to sleep.

“Right now I’m not sure what to think of her,” Takeru admitted. Bithamon sensed he was feeling a little uneasy so she began to purr louder in an attempt to help reassure him. Without really thinking Takeru began to pet the cat like Digimon since it was reminding him of Hikari’s cat not that Bithamon really cared. She liked pets just as much as a regular cat did.

“Maybe it would be best to worry about it later,” Luna suggested and Takeru nodded in agreement.

“Also Takeru, it might be a good idea to not tell anyone else about these dreams,” Trace warned him.

“You don’t have to worry about that. The only reason I told the two of you was because of what you do. I already know what would most likely happen if I told someone else about this,” Takeru told them.

“Also for now I don’t think you’ll have to worry about Kitsumon entering you dreams. Whatever is going on with you is going to make it impossible for you to have nightmares. If you do start having them however then it would be best to stay awake because as long as your dreams aren’t connected to my realm there isn’t any way for me to be able to keep you dreaming while you sleep,” Luna informed him and Takeru wasn’t sure if that was supposed to reassure him or not since she basically just told him as of right now it was a gamble as to whether Calilimon or Kitsumon would be the one to greet him once he fell asleep.

“Have you guys made any plans on what you’re going to do next?” Trace asked.

“No not yet. We’re still trying to think of a way to even try fighting him since we’re afraid that our Digimon may not be strong enough. Which reminds me if I call your cell phone will I get a hold of you now?” Takeru asked.

“Yeah I still have it and since Kris wants me to stay within this realm you’ll be able to get in contact with me,” Trace answered and Takeru nodded.

Takeru was then silent for a moment and the twins looked at each other realizing he was nervous about something. “Is something else bothering you Takeru?” Luna asked and Takeru nodded. The two waited until he finally decided to tell them what was going on.

“There is another reason I’m glad the two of you showed up,” Takeru began, “I can’t remember everything that happened.”

Trace and Luna both already knew this because Lee had warned them about this before they had come here. “What is the last thing that you do remember?” Trace asked.

Takeru looked at him. “The last thing I can remember is joking about your ability,” Takeru told him.

 _That’s a bigger hole then what Lee was hinting at,_ Trace thought as he went over in his head everything that had happened after that. Then again it made a bit of sense when he thought it over. The last clear conversation the two of them had was at that point. The ones they had after Lee and the others showed up probably wouldn’t have happened if they never showed up. “I’ll tell you what I know, but I wasn’t awake when you sent the e-mail out telling the others where we were at so you’ll have to remember that part on your own,” Trace told him.

They spent the rest of the afternoon listening while Trace filled in the blanks of Takeru’s memories. The younger teen was quite for most of it, but he did ask questions every now and then. By the time Natsuko came home Trace had finished and since the twins where suppose to help Kris with some things they decided it would be a good time to leave. Before they had left they had given Takeru Luna’s cell phone number to be on the safe side as well as Lee’s and told him he could give the others the numbers if he thought they would need them. Takeru had to admit that he was glad that he now had more than just Trace’s number in case he ended up vanishing again.

-X-

Trace and Luna walked back to the hotel they were staying at in silence with Rascmon and Bithamon walking behind them. Luna looked over at her brother able to see just what Takeru had noticed but had been unable to figure out what had changed about him. There where shadows in her brothers eyes that had not been there the last time she had saw him and she knew it was Kitsumon’s fault. It was behind the reason she had not been allowed to cut his bangs back to their original length. With how long they were all he had to do was look down and no one could see his eyes. “When are you going to tell them Trace?” Luna asked as she looked ahead when he caught her starring at him.

“Tell them what?” Trace asked as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. He knew full well what she was asking and he was hoping she would just drop it, but he wasn’t so lucky.

“About the truth of Calilimon,” she answered as she looked at him and sure enough he looked down to hide his eyes from her. Not that it mattered she could read his expression in other ways and she could tell he was mad that she had broached the subject.

“I’m not,” he told her.

“You know Kitsumon will tell them at the time it will hurt them the most Trace! Do you really want them to find out from him?” she questioned.

“I won’t tell them!” he snapped as he turned to face her. His eyes blazed with anger and hate as well as other emotions she couldn’t identify at the moment. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as he began to lose control over his powers and with him looking at her whatever was unleashed would be directed at her. Luna flinched away from him and for the first time in their life she actually felt a bit afraid of him. He was stronger than her and if whatever was about to happen was strong enough she would not be able to protect herself from it. When Trace noticed this his eyes widen slightly and he quickly looked down. He then seemed to manage to get his power under control because she couldn’t sense anything from him anymore.

“Trace- “ She began only to have him shake his head and take off running. She didn’t even register that he had when Rascmon took off after him. She sighed and let the two of them go for now deciding it would probably be best to find him a bit later.

“I don’t know how to help him Bithamon,” Luna whispered as she looked down at the small Digimon standing beside her.

“Just do as you have always done when it concerns your twin brother. Reassure him that no matter how dark things seem to get that you are very willing to fall into that darkness with him in order to help him,” Bithamon told her.

“I’m not sure if it’s that simple anymore Bithamon. Who knows just what that bastard fox Digimon did to him! Also Trace has never lost control around me before!” Luna told her. At this point in time she was very afraid for her brother because the situation between the two of them was starting to remind her of what had happened to Calilimon and Tsumon. That scared her more than her brother ever could!

“It will always be that simple Luna. You know better than anyone that the one thing your brother hates most in this world is harming others. What happened to Calilimon and how he is reacting to it is proof of that. You can’t let him fall further then he already has,” Bithamon warned her.

“The both of us will have to become stronger in order to prevent that Bithamon,” Luna stated.

“Then we’ll just become stronger. After all if Rascmon can evolve then I should be able to as well,” Bithamon told her and she nodded her head in agreement. The question was just how could the two of them become stronger?

-X-

Trace didn’t stop running until he had reached one of the many parks in Odaiba and only then when he had found a place no one was at. There he let go of what little control he had over his emotions and power as he screamed as loud as he could. Rascmon wisely stayed back as he watched several trees get hit by the wave of energy Trace released as he screamed causing several of them to buckle in on themselves. The loyal Digimon waited patiently until Trace had stopped screaming and the energy had completely vanished before he slowly walked over to Trace.

By then the teen was on his hands and knees tears streaming down his cheeks. “I almost hurt her Rascmon,” he rasped as he closed his eyes tightly. Rascmon noted that Trace’s gloves had remained the same which meant that this outburst of his wasn’t as bad as he had feared. They would have changed if the gloves had sensed that Trace could not bring his emotions and power under control. Luna had told him it had only happened once after their parents had died. Crystals had appeared on the back of the gloves and kept draining him of power to where he was basically a normal person until he had gotten his emotions under control.

“But you did not,” Rascmon pointed out as he got down on his belly and crawled under Trace’s chest until the teen’s was forced to lean on him. This caused Trace to just slump against him as he hid his face within Rascmon’s fiery fur.

“She was scared,” Trace mumbled against Rascmon’s back.

“Only because she knew she could not protect herself from what might have happened,” Rascmon told him, but Trace shook his head.

“She was scared of me Rascmon,” Trace mumbled refusing to pull away from the dog Digimon at the moment. Rascmon laid his heads on his paws not really able to argue against what Trace had said knowing full well she had indeed been afraid of her brother. It was obvious by how badly it was affecting him that something like this had not happened between the two of them before.

“It’s not your fault Trace,” Rascmon reassured him but Trace didn’t say anything to him. Right now Rascmon was wondering just how hard it would be for him to rip Kitsumon’s throat out for what he had done to Trace.


	7. Chapter Seven Innocents in the Line of Fire!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copy righted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it’s Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copy right for it.
> 
> That's it for the mass posts tonight. I'm going to work on a new chapter now before my eyes rebel against me xD

“ _She was scared,” Trace mumbled against Rascmon’s back._

“ _Only because she knew she could not protect herself from what might have happened,” Rascmon told him, but Trace shook his head._

“ _She was scared of me Rascmon,” Trace mumbled refusing to pull away from the dog Digimon at the moment. Rascmon laid his heads on his paws not really able to argue against what Trace had said knowing full well she had indeed been afraid of her brother. It was obvious by how badly it was affecting him that something like this had not happened between the two of them before._

“ _It’s not your fault Trace,” Rascmon reassured him but Trace didn’t say anything to him. Right now Rascmon was wondering just how hard it would be for him to rip Kitsumon’s throat out for what he had done to Trace._

The following day Takeru was allowed to attend school, but only if he sat out during physical education and didn’t try playing any sports for awhile. That was why Takeru realized that maybe Hikari hadn’t told him the full truth about whether or not Kohana was mad at him. When he arrived she wasn’t around, but Tsumon was waiting for Patamon which told him she had at least arrived already. On the way to their classroom to talk to her he had been intercepted by Daisuke and Ken who were wondering how he was doing. By the time they had finished talking the bell had rung for class.

What made it the most obvious was when they were eating lunch. Takeru had tried a few times to speak with Kohana only to get one worded answers from her most of the time. It was beginning to remind him of how she had behaved when they had first met except this time it wasn’t because she was shy. After a bit he just gave up and focused on his lunch.

He had to admit it annoyed him a bit that she was obviously avoiding him, but what really annoyed him was knowing he couldn’t really do anything to fix what was wrong. Well there was one way to fix this, but it required him to make a promise he knew he wouldn’t keep. With a sigh he stabbed at his white rice with his chopsticks. “You alright, Takeru?” Daisuke asked.

Takeru looked up from his bento so he could look at Daisuke. “Yeah I’m fine. My head hurts a little, but from what I was told at the hospital it’s normal and should go away soon,” he told him as he turned his attention back to his bento. His stomach was also a little upset thanks to his head hurting which was one reason he was stabbing at his lunch instead of actually eating it. _Something else that should go away after awhile,_ he reminded himself as he began to take small bites of the rice knowing he should eat. “So what are we going to do now?” Takeru asked in between bites.

“I don’t know,” Daisuke admitted.

“I say we find him for once instead of him always finding us,” Tailmon suggested. She was getting tired of this cat and mouse game Kitsumon preferred especially since she felt like the mouse which wasn’t a feeling she liked at all.

“We already tried that and look where it got us,” Ken pointed out and Takeru grimaced slightly while also silently agreeing with him.

“Maybe we should try and find some more information about him. I mean when we did last time it paid off. Even if it didn’t end exactly how we thought it would…” Miyako said.

“The only place that might have information about him would be those tunnels that he was living in or that redwood forest realm,” Hawkmon told them and they nodded their heads in agreement.

“In order to reach the redwood realm we’ll need the help of the Star siblings,” Wormmon reminded them.

“I have both Luna and Trace’s number so it shouldn’t be hard to get a hold of them. They also said I could give it to whoever I thought might need it,” Takeru told them as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He flipped it open and sent a text message to Trace then placed it back into his pocket. After words he continued to pick at his lunch in silence while only half paying attention to what they were saying. He wasn’t trying to be rude but his headache was making it hard to focus on what they where saying.

When he realized he probably wasn’t going to eat anything else he replaced the lid to his bento box and stood up. “I’m going to head to the nurses office to see if I can get something for my headache before class,” Takeru told them.

“Alright see you in class then,” Daisuke said and Takeru waved to the others before heading inside.

“He still looks a little pale doesn’t he?” Miyako asked as they watched him walk towards the school building.

“He didn’t eat much either,” Hikari pointed out.

“Is he really alright Patamon?” Kohana asked as she turned to look at the small Digimon who was still eating on his lunch.

Patamon looked at her as he thought for a moment. “I think I didn’t manage to get rid of all the poison,” Patamon told her then when he noticed she looked worried as well as the others he added, “Don’t worry if there is any left I doubt it’s enough to cause him trouble otherwise he wouldn’t have been released!”

“Well it’s probably the cause of his headache as well as his lack of appetite, but not life threatening. Just give him a few more days and his body should take care of it on its own,” Ken told them.

-X-

Takeru was walking out of the nurses’ office when his cell phone announced he had received a text message. He flipped it open and read it:

Luna & I take them there but on a few conds. 1st u can’t go 2nd no Kohana  
her Digi can’t evo high enuf to help 3rd someone with a high evo Digi has to stay here to help u

Takeru had no trouble agreeing to not going since he knew he would only cause trouble if he did especially if Kitsumon was still around. The third condition he also knew no one would have trouble with since none of them would be willing to leave him and Patamon alone to face Kitsumon. Kohana on the other hand he wasn’t too sure if it was right for him to agree on something for her especially if she really was mad at him. He sent a text back to Trace saying that the first two conditions could be agreed on right now but he’d have to wait on Kohana ‘s answer for the third one. Then he forward Trace’s text message to Kohana along with Trace’s cell phone number so she could decide for herself. With that done he returned his cell phone to his pocket and continued his way back to class.

It was right when he was entering the class room that he got another text message and since class hadn’t started yet he quickly checked it. Apparently Kohana had agreed with the condition since Trace’s text message contained a meeting place for the others to head to. Once again he forwarded Trace’s text this time to Daisuke so he could deal with it now since he wasn’t involved with it. He didn’t have to forward the conditions because he had no doubt Kohana had shown it to Hikari already and then they would have showed it to the others. _At least I’ll have free time to catch up on the school work_ , he thought to himself as he walked to his desk.

The others returned to class right before the bell rang and before she sat down at her desk Hikari walked over to his. “I’ve volunteered to be the one to stay behind while the others go and explore the other realm. Kohana and I also thought it would be a good time for us to help you get caught up with what you missed,” Hikari told him.

Takeru blinked a bit surprised that Kohana was willing to help. “Thanks! Any idea’s as to where we will be going after school?” Takeru asked.

“Most likely a park sense Tsumon can’t seem to realize that library’s are places that you have to be quiet in,” Hikari answered.

“Why am I not surprised?” Takeru commented smiling slightly. Hikari just shrugged before she walked over to her desk.

When the bell rang signifying the end of the school day Takeru watched as Ken and Daisuke quickly left the classroom so they could go meet up with the twins. As for Takeru, Kohana and Hikari, the three took their time getting their things together before heading out. After they had switched their indoor shoes for their regular ones they meet their Digimon at the entrance of the school. “Where we going?” Tsumon asked when he realized they were all heading someplace together.

“We’re going to the park to study,” Kohana answered him.

“Yay! No stuffy library!” Tsumon cheered and almost caused Patamon to fall off his head from his sudden movements. The small Digimon thought better of where he was and flew over to Takeru to settle on his head instead.

“How much did you manage to get through Takeru?” Hikari asked as she looked at him.

“Since I had to take Monday off I managed to get a third of the way through it before Luna and Trace stopped by,” Takeru answered. Hikari nodded as she pulled a small stack of papers stabled together which she handed to Takeru.

“Kohana and I compiled our notes together yesterday after school of the days you missed,” Hikari explained as Takeru glanced through it as they walked.

“Thanks this will help a lot,” he told them while he stored it inside of his bag.

Once they reached the park all three of the Digimon ended up joining the children and other Digimon that were already playing on the playground. As for Takeru, Hikari and Kohana the three of them sat at a free picnic table. Takeru then proceeded to pull out the school work that he needed to finish as well as the notes Hikari had just given him. Hikari and Kohana pulled homework out of their bags to work on while Takeru began working on some of the problems on his own. They had only been there ten minutes when Takeru noticed Kohana had stopped. “Is something wrong Kohana-chan?” he asked.

Kohana looked away from the playground to Takeru shaking her head. “No, not really, I just noticed that Tsumon was starring at something,” Kohana answered before looking at the playground again. Takeru turned his attention to it as well and noticed that Tsumon sat on top of a dome shaped monkey bar set. He was starring off into the distance until one of the children managed to get his attention. “He’s been doing that a lot lately since we found you in the Redwood Realm,” Kohana explained as she turned to look at him.

She had yet to tell them that she had found out that the “angel” that had led Tsumon to where Trace and Takeru were at was indeed Calilimon. Something told her it would be best to keep it to herself for now. Of course Patamon had figured it out while they were still in the Redwood Realm and had told Takeru about it after he had woken up from the coma. It made Takeru wonder if there was a chance that Tsumon was still really seeing Calilimon. If so would the angelic Digimon tell him what had happened last year herself? _It would probably be easier if she did tell him, but there is no telling if he is actually seeing her or not,_ Takeru thought.

Takeru was about to continue to work on his school work when a strong gust of wind went flying over his and the girls heads and the end of the table they were sitting at was sliced off. With part of the table now missing it began titling towards the end the three teens were sitting at. They quickly stood up and moved away from the table to keep from being tangled up in it. At first no one but the three teenagers really noticed what had happened, but then Tailmon evolved to Ofanimon, Patamon to Seraphimon and Tsumon to En’zakamon causing more than one person to look at the teenagers the Digimon had come with.

All the children stopped playing as they starred wide eyed at the picnic table while their parents began to run over to them knowing what was probably about to happen. Ofanimon and Seraphimon quickly flew over to the three while En’zakamon stayed with the children and parents.

The teenagers and the Digimon both looked up and were not at all surprised when they spotted Kitsumon. “Damn missed…” he commented as he relaxed his stance for a moment.

Kohana and Hikari, who had both been sitting on the opposite side of the table as Takeru, moved over to him. “Takeru-kun this is bad,” Kohana told him as she glanced over at the children and their parents. She had a bad feeling that Kitsumon would try to drag them into the fight.

“I know…” Takeru told her as he kept his attention on Kitsumon. Just then some of the parents attempted to leave only to have Kitsumon attack the ground in front of them causing several of the children to scream.

“Leave them alone!” En’Zakamon shouted up at him as he moved to stand in front of the parents and children. The other Digimon that where there seemed incapable of evolving right now so En’Zakamon was going to protect them in their place.

Kitsumon just rolled his eyes and shouted down at him, “ _Oh_ shut up you  worthless angel wannabe!” En’Zakamon in turned glared up at him while he clenched his fists tightly. What he would give to be able to land one hit on that damned fox Digimon!

Takeru glanced at Seraphimon. “Seraphimon we need to get out of here.”

Seraphimon nodded his head in agreement. “Yes, hopefully he’ll follow us,” Seraphimon said. En’zakamon tried to move over to Kohana so they could leave, but he was forced to jump backwards when Kitsumon attacked the ground in front of him much like he had done to the parents. Once again En’Zakamon was glaring up at Kitsumon who was making a point of ignoring him.

“En’zakamon!” Kohana shouted.

“I’m fine, don’t worry,” En’zakamon reassured her as he continued to glare up at Kitsumon. Forget hitting him right now he wouldn’t mind being able to evolve higher! _I can’t protect Kohana or these kids and parents at this stage!_ he thought to himself slightly annoyed with his lack of power.

The other two angelic Digimon realized that Kitsumon wasn’t going to allow them to leave so they flew at him to attack. If he wouldn’t allow them to leave then maybe they could drive him back! “Hallow Knuckle!” Seraphimon shouted as he attacked Kitsumon.

Kitsumon dodged the attack only to have Ofanimon try as she shouted, “Eden’s Javelin!”

“Strike of the Seven Stars!” Seraphimon shouted firing the orbs at Kitsumon as soon as he dodged Ofanimon’s attack managing to nail him in the back. Ofanimon then flew at him to attack with her Javelin intending to stab him with it. However, Kitsumon caught it with his hand so Seraphimon dove at him with Excalibur. Kitsumon was forced to let go of the javelin in order to dodge Seraphimon’s sword and as he did so he vanished from sight.

Screams from the children caused them to look over at them to see Kitsumon had En’Zakamon by the throat. “You always where interesting,” Kitsumon said as he lifted En’zakamon off the ground.

“Heaven’s Wrath!” En’Zakamon managed to shout as a lightening ball appeared above En’zakamon’s right hand. He then threw the attack at Kitsumon to no effect. Since he was unable to get free himself both Ofanimon and Seraphimon dive down at them to help him.

“Don’t!” Kohana shouted causing the two angelic Digimon to stop. “That’s what he wants you to do! En’zakamon is too close to the parents and kids!”

Seraphimon shook his head and said, “She’s right.”

“Fight us!” Ofanimon shouted at Kitsumon as she began to get angry. She hated the way he always ran and hid instead of fighting them head on.

Kitsumon grinned up at them. “But this is so much fun!”

En’zakamon’s eyes narrowed as he said, “No your afraid!”

Kitsumon tightened his grip on En’zakamon’s throat. “What did you say?” he growled as he looked at the angelic Digimon his eyes narrowing.

En’zakamon grabbed onto Kitsumon’s arm to pull some pressure off his neck. “You’re afraid! Always have been always will be! You pretend running around just out of the others reach or using something as a shield is just part of your game but the truth is your nothing but a coward! So much so that you won’t face them head on because you’re afraid it will be a repeat of last time!” he shouted at him.

Kitsumon growled then proceeded to shock En’Zakamon with black electricity until he devolved back to Tsumon. He then let go of him letting him fall to the ground and walked away from him. “Fine, I’ll fight them head on,” Kitsumon told him as he drew his katana. He then flew straight for Ofanimon as he shouted, “Sword of the Winds!

Kohana used this as a chance to run over to Tsumon to check up on him. When she reached him she sat down beside him. “Tsumon, are you alright?”

Tsumon sat up and looked at her as he answered, “My body is numb, but I think I’m okay.” Above them Ofanimon blocked Kitsumon’s katana with her Javelin only to be cut up by the wind attack. Tsumon, who looked up in time to see the attack, admitted to Kohana, “However, I don’t think I should have done that…” Seraphimon flew behind Kitsumon while his focus was on Ofanimon and slashed at his back.

Kitsumon was forced to drop to the ground to avoid the attack and Seraphimon had to stop his attack to keep from hitting Ofanimon. Kitsumon used this to his advantage as he flew back up and attacked both with his claws shouting, “Claws of Demise!” Ofanimon was able to dodge the attack, but as for Seraphimon he was slashed on his chest plate. Before he could counterattack Kitsumon dropped down again and Ofanimon dove after him. The angelic Digimon then jabbed at him with her javelin trying to impale him once again, but Kitsumon dodged to the side and grabbed hold of the javelin. With it in hand he was able to throw Ofanimon away from him.

“Strike of the Seven Stars!” Seraphimon shouted as he attacked him only to have Kitsumon dodge them and come up behind Seraphimon to attack him with his katana. Seraphimon turned to kick him away, but Kitsumon was already gone.

“Is that enough direct fighting for you?” Kitsumon asked. He was now standing right next to Tsumon and Kohana his katana back in its scabbard. The sudden surprise of him standing there made Kohana jump while Tsumon quickly moved in front of her to try and protect her from Kitsumon. Both of them where still sitting on the ground so Kitsumon knelt down in front of them as he grinned. “It wouldn’t be very hard to kill them or her and there would be nothing you could do to stop me…”

“Leave them alone!” Takeru shouted at Kitsumon as both Seraphimon and Ofanimon dove to the ground landing near him.

Kitsumon stood back up and looked over his shoulder at the two Ultimate Digimon. “I doubt you could stop me as well…” he told them as he drew his katana and pointed it at Kohana’s neck.

Takeru’s eyes widen as he ran towards them. “ _Kohana!_ ” he shouted.

Both Seraphimon and Ofanimon pointed their weapons at him. “Don’t you _dare,”_ Seraphimon told him punctuating each word as he glared at the fox Digimon his anger radiating off of him.

Kitsumon chuckled, “How will you stop me?”

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Trace and Rascmon walked up. “They don’t have to,” Trace said as he stopped Takeru before he could reach Kohana.

“What do you mean?” Takeru asked as he looked at him then Kohana. It wasn’t hard for the older teen to see just how worried he was for her.

“None of this is real. The bastard was never even here,” Trace explained as Rascmon stepped forward.

“Cerberus Flame!” he shouted as he fired the flames at the parents and children.

“Wait! What are you doing?” Hikari shouted out in surprised more than anything else. When the flames hit the parents and children they shattered as well as Kitsumon and the area around them. The teens and Digimon looked around to find themselves at the side of the school. Rascmon was now standing in front of a small round object which he nudged with his noise.

“He knew you never would have attacked them… Bastard… His tricks have gotten better since last time,” Trace explained as Seraphimon and Ofanimon devolved to their child stages.

Then Tsumon stood up and looked at himself. “My body isn’t numb anymore,” he told the others when he looked up at them.

“This entire time we’ve been trapped by one of his illusions?” Takeru asked. He glanced around them guessing they must have walked around the school a few times on their way to the “park” before settling at one of the outdoor tables. The table closes to them held both his and the others homework so most likely that was what had happened.

“Yep he was having fun messing with your head,” Trace told him as he walked over to Rascmon and stomped on the round object shattering it. “Just like her mirror,” he muttered to himself and Rascmon nodded his head in agreement. “I have a feeling he was doing it for another reason, though,” he told the other teens as he looked at them. It was then Takeru noticed that Trace had learned from previous experience of trying to approach a school looking the way he did so he had added a black beanie to what he was wearing. It was covering his ears as well as his eyebrow piercing. Unlike last time he had done this Takeru couldn’t tell if his hair had been stuffed into the beanie or if Trace had actually cut it.

“Such as?” Hikari asked.

“Such as finding out how you would react when there are others involved besides yourselves and what you would do if one of your friends lives were in danger,” Rascmon explained as he watched the fragments of the object vanish.

“After all Takeru already gave himself up once for his friends. He was probably hoping you would do it again,” Trace told them as he looked at Takeru.

“Thank you for helping us, but why are you here? I thought you would be helping the others,” Takeru asked.

“Luna put the same restriction on him that Trace placed on you. She’s afraid Kitsumon will try to capture him again,” Rascmon said and remembered Luna telling Trace he was not allowed to come either after he had set the terms of Luna taking the others to the Redwood Forest Realm. Trace had not been happy about not being able to help with the search, but at the same time he had been glad for an excuse to avoid his sister.

“Also you’re friends were getting worried when you didn’t respond to their calls. I think Luna was letting them borrow her cell phone,” Trace explained and just as he finished speaking Takeru’s cell phone rang. Takeru quickly walked over to the table and pulled it out of its pouch on his messenger bags strap and answered it taking a few more steps away from the others so he could hear what the person on the other end was saying without having the others stop talking.

While he was doing that, Trace walked over to Kohana and Tsumon. “You better be careful from now on,” Trace warned her.

“Why?” Kohana asked.

Trace glanced over at Takeru. “Kitsumon is figuring more than one thing out,” he told her. Kohana and Tsumon looked at each other confusion on their faces as to what Trace was trying to tell them. Trace sighed and shook his head slowly wondering just how dense both her and Takeru could be at times. After all it couldn’t be _that_ hard to figure out what he meant. “Any way, just no going off anywhere on your own without warning someone, alright?” he asked as he crossed his arms across his chest.

“Alright,” Kohana told him not seeing any reason she couldn’t agree with that even if it would be a bit annoying.

When Takeru hung the cell phone up he turned to look at the others. “It was Yamato. He wanted to know what had happened so I told him. After that he told me that they had found some ruins of a city and are currently exploring it,” Takeru told the others.

“How big is it?” Hikari asked.

“They’re not sure. Since they are afraid of setting off some sort of trap they are exploring it slowly,” Takeru answered.

“Do they have any ideas of how old it is?” Trace asked.

“That’s something that has Koushirou confused. He says with how much the building and things have degraded the ruins can’t be older than ten years but the buildings themselves seem like something from medieval times,” Takeru explained.

“It’s possible. Just because this realm is as advanced as it is doesn’t mean others will be,” Trace informed them.

“I want to know how a Digimon got to such a primitive world, though,” Rascmon commented and the others where admittedly curious about that as well.

“Any way since your Digimon just evolved how about we all get something to eat, I’ll pay for it,” Trace offered and the others willing agreed.

-X-

Once again Takeru found himself in a dream with Calilimon and him in his bed room. Takeru sat at the foot of the bed while Calilimon stood by the window looking out of it. For some strange reason it was no longer just whiteness out of the window but the normal view of Odaiba that Takeru always saw when he was awake. She sighed and turned away from the window to look at Takeru and spoke, “She may be in danger…”

Takeru glanced at her a bit confused. “Who?” he asked as he shifted how he was sitting so it was easier to look at her.

“Kohana-chan,” Calilimon answered as she looked back out the window.

Takeru thought a moment on what she said then asked, “What makes you think that?”

“It’s because Kitsumon is learning from his failures as well as his successes… He’s learning your weaknesses…” She answered as she tapped the window with a finger as it began to rain. Now her breathing was ever so slowly fogging up the window.

“Are you trying to say Kohana is a weakness?” He questioned even more confused now than before. How could she be a weakness? Granted Tsumon couldn’t evolve high enough to fight, but as long as they were careful it shouldn’t be that hard to keep her safe.

Calilimon turned to look at him and said, “To you, no, to him yes… And it’s one he won’t hesitate to use against you.”

Takeru flopped back onto the bed out of slight frustration even more confused now and said, “You just said –“

Calilimon giggled at how dense he was being as she looked out the window once again. “You don’t view her as one, but she could very easily be one,” Calilimon told him.

Takeru turned his head to where he was looking at her again while he let his arms slide off his stomach onto the bed. “How?” he asked.

Calilimon turned around to look at him giggling as she answered, “Your dense at times aren’t you? How did you feel when you thought Kitsumon might kill her?” She was hoping maybe she could make him figure out what was going on. If he didn’t soon she was going to begin to think maybe he didn’t want to realize for some reason.

Takeru thought back to earlier today. “Scared and…” he answered as he tried to sort through all he had felt. It wasn’t easy because there had been a huge mess of emotions when he saw Kitsumon place his blade against Kohana’s neck.

“And what?” Calilimon asked.

Takeru awoke and slowly opened his eyes not surprised at all when he realized it wasn’t quite morning yet as it had just hit the false dawn stage outside. He wasn’t quite sure why he had woken up, but instead of trying to fall back asleep he slowly sat up and climbed out of bed. As he walked over to the window he carefully rubbed at his eyes to clear the sleep from them. With a slight sigh he leaned his head against the window pane as he starred out it.

 _Just what was Calilimon trying to prove?_ he thought to himself as he starred off at the horizon. Obviously she wanted him to keep a better eye on Kohana, but there really was nothing else he could do. He spent all day with her in class and after school she was usually hanging around with Hikari so the only time it was just her and Tsumon was when her parents weren’t at home.

The only thing he could think of that would help would be to get Tsumon the ability to evolve higher than his adult stage. The problem was with him just being able to evolve to his adult stage the chances of him evolving sometime soon to his perfect stage were slim. There was also the problem that most Digimon couldn’t evolve to that stage unless they had achieved the power to do so on their own. Yes, Tsumon technically had, but his data had since then been reset so Takeru doubted that he could do so now.

 _It might be a good idea to try and see if Gennai or Qinglongmon has any idea’s,_ he thought as he turned his back to the window and rested his weight against the window sill as well as his hands. There was also the chance that something was still wrong with Tsumon since Calilimon seemed to still be around. There was the dark possibility that Tsumon couldn’t evolve higher because of her. If that was the case then Takeru was going to have to figure out what to do in order to fix things because Calilimon had somehow attached herself to him.

“Why do things always have to be so complicated,” he mumbled as he leaned his head back against the window pane. Of course he already knew the answer to that but he still didn’t like it. With a shake of his head Takeru went back to bed hoping to get another hour of sleep before he had to get up for school.

A couple of hours later had him and Patamon on their way to school and the entire time he thought over the conversation he had with Calilimon. The more he dwelled on it the more he thought speaking to Gennai or Qinglongmon would help the situation somewhat. He just didn’t know how. As always Patamon left once they reached the entrance to the school while Takeru walked inside. While he was at the shoe locker he ran into Hikari and Miyako.

“Are you okay Takeru? You look pale,” Hikari asked when she looked at him. Of course he had been looking pale since he had left the hospital, but even more so today.

Takeru looked at her and smiled. “I’m fine,” he told her even though his head felt like it was going to split open at any moment. He had already taken something for it before he had left home, but it had yet to kick in. At least today it wasn’t messing with his stomach as well.

“Have you been sleeping?” Miyako asked.

“Yes, it seems for now I don’t have to worry about Kitsumon nightmares for some strange reason,” he answered heeding the advice Luna and Trace had given him on keeping the dreams to himself for now. Just as he finished switching his boots for his inside shoes Kohana walked over to her locker.

“You’re later than usual,” Hikari commented.

Kohana nodded a slight smile on her face. “Yes, Katsu unplugged my alarm clock last night without me knowing. Thankfully my mother realized something was wrong and woke me up before she and my father left for work,” Kohana explained.

“So what are the three of you going to do today?” Miyako asked as she looked at them.

“I was actually hoping we could head to the Digital World in order to speak to Gennai or Qinglongmon,” Takeru told them.

“How come?” Hikari asked.

“I need to speak to Gennai about what’s been happening and I was hoping he could also think of a way that would make it possible for Tsumon to evolve past his adult stage,” Takeru told her.

“I actually had the same idea. Except I was just going to try looking for Qinglongmon,” Kohana said as she looked at Takeru.

“Then I guess we’ll head to the Digital World after school,” Hikari stated and the other two nodded.

“Will it be safe just the three of you going there?” Miyako asked as they began to walk further into the school.

“It might be a good idea to see if my brother and Yamato would come with us,” Hikari suggested as she pulled her cell phone out to text them.

“Knowing those two they’ll most likely come,” Takeru told her and Hikari had to agree with him. Taichi was almost as protective of Takeru as Yamato was since what had happened during their first adventures in the Digital World. Of course now a day’s her brother had the grace to step back for Yamato.

“Do you think Gennai or Qinglongmon could help?” Kohana asked.

“I don’t know but it’s worth a shot,” Takeru told her.

Most of the morning classes went by quickly until Physical Education came up. Takeru was still on restriction so he had to sit out to where it seemed to drag on even with Patamon there. He was very happy when the bell finally rang signifying it was time for lunch. The Chosen Children like usual went to meet up with the Digimon to eat together. They had barely sat own when Hikari asked, “Is the city really one from medieval times?”

“Yep! Ken even found what he thinks is a blacksmith,” Miyako told them.

“Did you guys happen to find anything else?” Takeru asked.

“Some things that are a bit confusing such as paintings that survived whatever happened that look a lot like Digimon,” Ken told them.

“How could a place with no computers have Digimon?” Patamon asked.

“Koushirou is trying to figure that one out. He thinks we may just be to use to seeing Digimon and so we automatically thought it was one when it could be their deity or even some type of demon,” Daisuke explained.

“What’s most confusing is that there are signs of damage to the city that are older than when Koushirou is guessing it was destroyed,” Wormmon told them.

“It makes him think they might have been in some war or something before it was destroyed,” Hawkmon further explained.

“We’re going to go fly around today to see if there are anymore towns around the realm then this one. Luna told us to make sure we fly high enough to where we won’t be seen as well,” V-mon informed them.

“To bad we can’t go it sounds interesting,” Hikari commented and Kohana shook her head.

“I don’t think I’d like going there anytime soon,” Kohana told them truthfully.

“Same here,” Takeru agreed even if he couldn’t remember his time within the Redwood Forest realm to many things had gone wrong there for his liking.

“Can’t really blame you two,” Ken told them and Miyako nodded in agreement.

“Any way Taichi and Yamato won’t be joining you this time because they’ll be with us today,” Hikari told them as she read a text message off her cell phone. She must have had it on vibrate because no one had heard the cheery tune that played when she received text messages.

“What are you guys doing that you’ll need those two for?” Daisuke asked as he looked at them.

“We’re going to the Digital World to speak to Gennai or Qinglongmon. We’re hoping we can find some things out from them that could help us,” Takeru explained. He didn’t want to go into too much detail in front of Tsumon. There was no reason to get the Digimon excited if their efforts proved to be in vain.

“Good luck. Usually the only time you can talk to those two is when they want to talk to you,” V-mon reminded them.

“Thanks,” Takeru muttered as he turned his attention to his bento.

After school Takeru waited with Kohana and Hikari for Yamato and Taichi to show up. Taichi had a late afternoon class that was scheduled to finish half an hour after their High School got out so they had to wait a bit. Of course Yamato showed up not to long after school had let out since today was one of his light days. The four had been waiting about ten minutes when Trace and Rascmon walked up. Much like he had done the previous day he was wearing the black beanie today as well.

Takeru looked at him. “You’re bored aren’t you?” he asked.

Trace shrugged and said, “You have school all day to keep you occupied I on the other hand –“

Rascmon interrupted him, “Luna is making him come here. She doesn’t want him wondering Odaiba by himself… In other words she’s hoping you would babysit him.” This caused Trace to glare at the fiery dog Digimon who just ignored him. He was getting his human partner back for some of the stunts he had pulled on him in the past. It also helped to keep Trace from dwelling on darker thoughts like he had a tendency of doing now when it was just the two of them.

Hikari spoke while trying not to laugh at what Rascmon had said, “We are going to head to the Digital World do you want to come with us?”

“Sure but why are you guys going there?” Trace asked as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.

“We’re going to see if we can find Gennai or Qinglongmon to speak to either one of them,” Patamon answered and Trace nodded.

“I take it we’re waiting for Taichi then?” Rascmon said noting that Yamato and Gabumon where here.

“Yes he’ll be here in about twenty minutes or so,” Yamato answered him.

“Do you guys have any idea where you might find them?” Trace asked.

“Most likely they’ll be on the larger continent,” Takeru told him. At least he hoped they would be. It was the last place any of them had seen the two of them so it was the best place to look for them.

“I have a feeling we’re going to be there for awhile,” Trace sighed then just shrugged. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do with his time. It was either this or actually sitting down and catching up on the school he had missed. No he’d rather be here since Krista hadn’t actually told him he had to work on it. In fact she hadn’t mentioned it at all which did worry him a bit. Maybe she was waiting for one of the few times he actually did sleep to bury him alive in school work…

:: Redwood Forest Realm ::

As soon as everyone had arrived within the realm V-mon and Wormmon had Jogress evolved to Paildramon then evolved further to Imperial Dramon. Ken and Daisuke quickly climbed up and they were about to take off when Koushirou spoke up, “Remember! Stay out of sight!”

“Don’t worry we will!” Ken reassured him before Imperial Dramon flew off.

“Do you think they’ll find anything?” Miyako asked as those who where left walked towards the ruins they had found the other day.

“They should at least find other towns since the one we found had obviously been fighting someone,” Iori answered as he helped Armadimon over a fallen log. This terrain really did not agree with his Digimon.

“And if they do then maybe they’ll be able to find out whether those paintings are really some type of deity or Digimon,” Luna added having been really curious about the paintings since Daisuke had stumbled upon them.

“If they are Digimon then how do they even know about us?” Tentomon asked as he looked at Luna since she was probably the only one with the answers.

“I don’t know. If it wasn’t for how old the ruins where I would say that Kitsumon as Shaitanmon somehow introduced Digimon to this realm, but as far as we know Shaitanmon slash Kitsumon is only about five years old while Koushirou believes the ruins to be twice that age,” Luna told them.

“You are forgetting Luna that most likely Kitsumon at one point existed before he possessed Tsumon so there is still that possibility,” Bithamon reminded her as she easily jumped on top of the log that had been giving Armadimon trouble.

“If that’s true Bithamon why didn’t he attack Takeru before now?” Luna questioned her as she stopped to look at her Digimon.

Bithamon jumped down from the log and walked over to Luna rubbing up against her legs before leaning against her and looking up. “I don’t know I’m just theorizing like the rest of you have been doing,” she said her tail flicking in slight irritation at how little they did know.

“Well the whole reason we’re here is to find out more about Kitsumon so maybe we’ll find out whether Bithamon is right or not,” Armadimon reminded them and Luna nodded in agreement.

-X-

On a cliff by the base of a tall redwood tree that overlooked the city ruins that the Chosen Children had just reached stood a teenage boy around the same age as Takeru and the others watching them. The teen was wearing a dark green almost black hooded zip up sweater that was too large for him to where his face was hidden in the shadows of the hood since he had it pulled up. The only thing that could really be seen due to the hood was his dark red hair that was thick and wild to where it never stayed under the hood like he would have liked.

The sweater was zipped up at the moment hiding the shirt he wore beneath it and his hands where stuffed into the pockets at the front of the sweater. As for the pants he was wearing they were just plain jeans that had seen better days with how faded they where and had actually worn through at the knees. His shoes where the only thing he wore that really fit in with where he was at since they were dark brown hiking boots. Instead of doing the smart thing and tucking the bottom of the jeans into the boots he let the jeans cover the top of the boots.

In the branches of the tree he stood under was a Black Gabumon, a Gabumon whose coloring was completely black with his stripes being gray and his eyes where amber in color. Beside him in another branch was a Black Agumon, who like the Black Gabumon, was black in color as well as having the amber eyes. The Black Gabumon’s ears were longer then Yamato’s Gabumon and had a gold hoop earring near the end of each one. As for the Black Agumon he had red leather belts that criss-crossed over the back and front of his hands.

The Black Gabumon shifted slightly so he could look down at the teenage boy his movement drawing the teen’s attention to him and asked, “Will they find anything?

The teen leaned back against the trunk of the tree so looking up at the Digimon was a bit easier. “I doubt it. Kitsumon cleaned the place thoroughly before we left it,” he answered. It made him feel uneasy being back here after being gone for so long.

This time the Black Agumon looked down and asked the teen a question, “Then why are we even here?” The two Digimon were not stupid they could easily tell their partner was not happy about being here.

“Curiosity… I never seen others with Digimon before,” he answered. A beeping noise came from the pocket of his sweater and he pulled a black D-terminal from it. The teen opened it up and read the message that was just sent to him. “Kitsumon says we can play now if we want to,” he told the two Digimon as he stuffed the D-terminal back into his pocket.

“I still don’t understand why we help him,” Black Agumon stated.

Black Gabumon snorted in disgust then said, “You know he’ll turn on us if it will help him.”

“Yes I know. When that time comes we’ll strike first,” the teen told them as he pushed away from the tree and took a few steps away from it so he could look at both of them instead of just looking at Black Gabumon. He could see slight fear in both of their eyes from the statement he had just made. Neither one of them really had much experience fighting a real enemy just the ones Kitsumon had them ‘fight” to become stronger and they both doubted their ability to beat the Ultimate level Digimon.

“Just whose side are we on?” Black Agumon asked trying to mask his fear for he knew just how good his human partner was at reading the emotions of others whether they were human or Digimon.

“No ones. We only look out for ourselves,” the teen told them grinning up to the two of them already knowing how they would react to that.

“Fine by me,” Black Gabumon said as he smirked.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Black Agumon agreed, but the two Digimon knew that the teen probably wouldn’t stick to it. The teen nodded and motioned for the two Digimon to come and join him. They both obediently jumped out of the tree landing on either side of him. He glanced over his shoulder towards the Chosen Children once more. Admittedly, he was curious about the others with Digimon, but now that he had permission to play with them it meant he had permission to leave this realm and he was going to go exploring. He looked forward and began to walk away from the cliff heading off to the area Kitsumon had shown him was his only way to leave this place the two Digimon following after him.


	8. Chapter Eight The Angels Role

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copy righted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it’s Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copy right for it.
> 
> A/N – I warn you now I have no clue how to write Gennai X_X Also, remember one thing; this is how I interpret the Digital World so you don’t have to agree with what I do. Prepare for long segments of talk in this chapter :3.

_"Just whose side are we on?" Black Agumon asked trying to mask his ear for he knew just how good his human partner was at reading the emotions of others whether they were human or Digimon._

_"No ones. We only look out for ourselves," the teen told them grinning up to the two of them already knowing how they would react to that._

_"Fine by me," Black Gabumon said as he smirked._

_"Wouldn't have it any other way," Black Agumon agreed, but the two Digimon knew that the teen probably wouldn't stick to it. The teen nodded and motioned for the two Digimon to come and join him. They both obediently jumped out of the tree landing on either side of him. He glanced over his shoulder towards the Chosen Children once more. Admittedly, he was curious about the others with Digimon, but now that he had permission to play with them it meant he had permission to leave this realm and he was going to go exploring. He looked forward and began to walk away from the cliff heading off to the area Kitsumon had shown him was his only way to leave this place the two Digimon following after him._

After Taichi had finally arrived at the high school Takeru and the others had walked to the school’s computer room in order to open a portal to the Digital World. Almost as soon as they had arrived Takeru’s head felt like it was going to split open again much like it had that morning and a wave of nausea hit at the same time. His face must have gone pale or something at the same time because Yamato had quickly walked over to him. “Are you alright?” he asked placing his hand on his younger brother’s shoulder.

Thankfully the pain and the nausea went away almost as quickly as it had came so Takeru slowly nodded as he looked at his brother. “Yeah just felt sick to my stomach for a moment,” Takeru explained and Yamato slowly nodded.

“So… How are we going to try and find them?” Trace asked and the two brothers turned to look at him.

“We’ll just have to search around and hope we find him,” Taichi told him and Trace nodded though it was obvious he didn’t think this was going to work.

“Should we evolve so we can look around quicker?” Agumon asked as he looked up at Taichi.

“We might miss him somehow if we had you guys do that,” Taichi told him.

“I guess we should start walking then,” Takeru said and the others nodded in agreement. It didn’t really matter at the moment which direction they went in so they just picked at random and began to walk.

Not even ten minutes after they had started walking the group spotted Gennai in the distance. “Okay, that was way too easy,” Trace commented as he looked at the others. _Why was it so easy to find him?_ Trace wondered since it had been made obvious by the way the others had acted that finding Gennai was not something they usually were able to do. As for how Trace knew it was Gennai he had gotten a quick description of him from Takeru while waiting for Taichi to show up.

“He had to have been waiting for us,” Yamato stated as they walked towards Gennai. It wa the only thing that made since to him because when Gennai wanted to speak with them he always managed to find them no matter where they were in the Digital World.

Taichi leaned towards Yamato and whispered, “Let’s just hope this isn’t another trap.”

Yamato nodded in agreement whispering, “It shouldn’t be too hard to figure out if it’s him or not.”

“It is nice to see you again,” Gennai began as he looked at Takeru, Hikari, Yamato and Taichi then he turned his attention to Trace and Kohana, “and it’s nice to meet the two of you. “

“I’m Tracy Lance Star, but just call me Trace,” Trace said then he pointed to Rascmon who sat down beside him. “And this is Rascmon.”

“My name is Kohana Haru,” Kohana said.

“And I’m Tsumon!” Tsumon said before Kohana had a chance to introduce him a grin on his face.

Gennai looked at Rascmon then at Tsumon an unreadable expression on his face before he turned to look at Takeru. “You’ve been through a lot since the last time I saw you,” he commented.

“Yeah we were actually hoping you can help us with what has been going on,” Takeru told him and Gennai nodded his head.

“I actually thought you would come sooner than this,” Gennai told him truthfully.

“Then you know why we’re here?” Yamato asked Gennai.

Gennai turned his attention to Tsumon. “It isn’t very hard to guess,” Gennai answered and Tsumon was obviously confused by what Gennai meant.

“I’m glad we don’t have to explain then. Is there any possible way to make it to where he can evolve to his higher stages? I mean without him having to train for years like normal Digimon do,” Hikari asked knowing that they couldn’t go the same route that had made it possible for their Digimon to evolve to their higher stages. Qinglongmon could not give them anymore of his cores without threatening the balance of the Digital World.

Gennai thought for a moment before answering, “There are only two ways to do that both of which you know; the tag and crests and Qinglongmon’s cores.”

“Then is it not possible? Or are you trying to tell us there is a crest hidden somewhere in the Digital World for Haru-chan?” Taichi asked him. Taichi very much doubted there was any more of them in the Digital World. The only ones who had crests where those who had gone to the Digital World seven years ago even when one counted the crest Ken had received. Since Kohana had only recently gotten her Digimon and Digivice there wasn't any doubt about the fact that she had not been in the Digital World at that time.

Gennai looked at Taichi and shook his head. “You already know the answer to that one. There are no more crests, but it’s not impossible,” Gennai told him to where it was now everyone elses turn to be confused.

“You just told us that there are no more crests and we already know Qinglongmon can’t help us without endangering the Digital World’s safety so just how is it not impossible?” Yamato asked wondering if Gennai was just speaking in circles.

Gennai walked over to Rascmon and bent down to pet the dog Digimon on the head. “The same way this one came about,” Gennai told them and the only one not confused at this point was both Trace and Takeru.

“You mean you want Luna to make a crest for her?” Trace asked glancing at Kohana and Tsumon before he looked at Gennai.

“Yes, she can do it can’t she?” Gennai asked as he stood up straight and looked at Trace.

Trace shrugged. “I don’t know. From what I understand there isn’t a limit to her ability to create things, but it can’t really be that simple,” Trace stated as he glanced down at Rascmon wondering just how Gennai knew about the dog Digimon. He had a feeling Gennai hadn’t known just _how_ Rascmon came to be just that he wasn’t a naturally born Digimon. His eyes narrowed for a moment. “Wait a minute! Is that really such a good idea? From what I know of almost all of the crests where returned because they where needed to add an extra layer of protection to the Digital World. Won’t Luna making one somehow screw that up?”

“That is possible,” Gennai answered though he could not really know if it would or not since he had never really encountered someone with Luna’s ability before.

“Just how would it do that? Ken got his crest after we returned ours and nothing bad happened,” Takeru pointed out as he turned to look at Trace.

“That’s because he had a crest _before_ you returned yours,” Trace answered him. “Luna can create things out of thin air she can even copy things that already exist, but it won’t necessary be real. Like I told Patamon when I explained about Rascmon he wasn’t a real Digimon until he came here. He needed to absorb some data from the Digital World which really isn’t that big of a thing since the air itself here is made of data. When it comes to making a crest for Kohana, however, she’ll also have to come here to make it become real and there is not telling just what it’ll have to absorb in order to work right.”

“Couldn’t your one sister that can see the future be able to tell what would happen?” Agumon asked.

Trace shook his head. “No Lexi can’t see possibilities she can only see what will happen. It would take Kohana receiving the crest and coming here for Lexi to be able to tell what will happen, but by then it would be too late,” Trace explained.

“Couldn’t Krista do it then?” Rascmon looked at him and Trace thought for a moment.

“That might work, but I don’t know we’ll have to ask her,” Trace answered.

“Then it might be possible?” Tsumon asked by now figuring out just what they were talking about and Trace nodded.

“Trace, Takeru can we talk alone for a moment? Your Digimon are of course aloud to join in the conversation as well,” Gennai asked. Taichi and Yamato looked at each other for a moment but neither one of them could really argue against this being the real Gennai with what he had said and what he had known so there really was no reason they should stop the two.

“Alright,” Takeru said and Trace nodded before they followed Gennai as he walked away from the others.

“Do you know there is Digimon data inside of you?” Gennai asked Takeru once they were far enough from the others that they couldn’t hear him.

“Is that what’s going on?” Takeru asked him a few things now becoming clear to him. It at least explained how he was seeing Calilimon.

“It’s actually Data from two Digimon but one is being worked out of your body by your immune system. As for the other your body has actually accepted it as part of you,” Gennai told him.

“How could that have happened?” Trace asked.

“I am not entirely sure. May I see your D-3 for a moment Takeru?” Gennai asked. Takeru pulled his D-3 out of his pocket and handed it over to Gennai. Gennai examined it for a moment before looking at Trace. “You have added something to it, didn’t you?”

”So he’s not all knowing,” Trace mumbled before answering having begone to wonder about him, “Yes a Digimon’s data by the name of Calilimon. The D-3 accepted it readily enough.” He was now wondering if he had done the right thing by allowing the D-3 to have the data or if he had possibly made things worse somehow. Either way if the D-3 had accepted the data it wasn't fully his fault because how was he to know the D-3 was stupid enough to take something in it shouldn't have.

Gennai nodded his head in acknowledged to what Trace had said as he continued to examine the D-3 carefully. When he had finished he glanced up and noted the worry look on Trace’s face. “Do not worry. By doing so you have probably saved Takeru’s life.”

“What do you mean?” Takeru asked.

“This Digimon, Calilimon, she was a vaccine type am I correct?”

“Yeah she was an angelic Digimon,” Patamon answered him.

“I have no doubt the Digimon who attacked you was a virus type since only a virus Digimon's data could do the damage that your body has sustained, but it would have been dangerous for you if the D-3 did not have her data inside of it,” Gennai told them as he handed the D-3 back to Takeru who returned it to his pocket.

“Can you explain that, please? I’m not sure I understand what you’re trying to tell us,” Takeru told him understandably confused and Gennai nodded.

“The only possible way for what has occurred to you, Takeru, to have happened is if you were attacked while in the Digital World or because you were brought here soon after you were initially attacked, but the D-3 did what it had been designed to do. Like you already know they are meant to be a way to connect you and your Digimon to give them power. You also already know by now that the Digivices and D-3s react better depending on what emotions you are feeling at the moment. A good example is when Agumon evolved into Skull Greymon instead of Metal Greymon because of just how Taichi had been treating Agumon and just why he wanted him to evolve. It is also there as a fail safe to help protect you. For example, when your Digimon does not have enough energy to evolve it will borrow energy from your emotions to give what your Digimon needs to evolve giving them the power to fight.

“The D-3 realized you were in danger, more danger then you probably have been before since I can see the telltale signs of an I.V. by looking at your arm. It also knew Patamon was not there to help you since Holy Angemon would have been able to deal with this if he was as soon as it had happened and it could not do anything with the energy from your emotions since they were all negative not to mention the only one it could affect with emotions in the first place would be Patamon. The D-3 really only had one option left to it, one that would not have been available if Trace had not given the Data of Calilimon to the D-3.

“Mind you what it did could have only happened in the Digital World since while you are here like the Digimon you are made up of data. It is the same reason why Holy Angemon would have been able to help you if he had been there since his Holy Disincentive only really works on things made of Data. For whatever reason you decided to put her data into the D-3 there was still some of it left after you used it for whatever purpose it was required for. The D-3 of course knew it was still in there and knew it was the only solution to the problem at hand since your body was unable to fight it off at full strength. It transferred the rest of her data into you to work as a type of anti-virus to the virus that was affecting you. Of course it wasn’t completely prefect it probably would have worked better if there had been more of her data left, but it was enough to slow down just what was happening to you,” he explained to Takeru.

Takeru starred at his D-3 as he digested what Gennai had just told him. “Wait a minute what exactly happened to her data once Takeru left the Digital World?” Trace asked as he glanced at him. What Gennai had said made perfect sense for as long as Takeru had stayed within the Digital World, but what about after he left it? Something was still wrong with Takeru it seemed and he didn’t like it.

“That is where the problem is now, Trace. Like I have said earlier Takeru’s body has accepted the data while it is attacking what is left of the other,” Gennai began as he looked at Takeru, “Your body is using it as a figurative crouch. Damage was done to your body and it has for some reason decided that since it needs to focus more on what is left of the virus instead of healing itself that Calilimon’s data is a good temporary solution to patch the damage. If you hadn’t been separated from your D-3 while you were admitted into the hospital it would have made sure the data was continued to be used to fight the virus, but after it was gone your body had to decide just how to deal with it. The D-3 now can’t chance changing just what is being done with the data without it having some negative effects.”

“I’m still not getting just how my body could have used the data like that,” Takeru stated truthfully.

“I’m not entirely sure either. This is the first time I have encountered something like this,” Gennai told him truthfully.

“So what is going to happen to Calilimon’s Data once his body has removed what is left of the virus,” Patamon asked.

“Most likely his body will stop using it as a crouch and start healing itself. When that happens the D-3 will take the data back into itself and I can guarantee you’ll know when this happens because you, Takeru, are going to feel some type of side affect when it begins,” Gennai answered him.

“There is something else that’s bugging me. Just how is Calilimon talking to Takeru when he’s asleep, if it really is her?” Trace asked.

“It really is her and it is because when he is asleep it is easier for her to do so. There are too many things going on while he is awake for him to be able to hear her,” Gennai told him.

“That still doesn’t explain what happened in the dream realm,” Trace pointed out.

Gennai shrugged his shoulders and said, “I am sorry I cannot really help you there since I know nothing of that realm.” Trace nodded as he tried to think of just what could have caused the island to separate like it had.

“Gennai,” Takeru began and Gennai turned to look at him, “Calilimon’s data was used to repair her brother. Both me and her are afraid that something is still wrong with Tsumon since she’s still around.” Gennai looked over at the other group, who were talking amongst themselves, his focus mainly on Tsumon.

“As far as I can tell there are several things wrong with Tsumon’s programming some of which will have an impact on just how he is able to evolve if Kohana is indeed given a crest,” Gennai told him as he turned to look at Takeru. “The data you have in you will not help fix it. It is something that will either work itself out or he may have to live with it for the rest of his life. The fact is as of right now Tsumon is going to have to heavily rely on Kohana’s Digivice to evolve because from what I can tell his body can only store enough energy to safely evolve to his adult stage.”

“Just fucking great,” Trace commented as he stuffed his hands in his pocket. Just what had been the use of what they did if Tsumon was still broken?

Gennai ignored Trace’s comment for the most part as he added, “You should warn her about this and make sure those two never face a powerful Digimon on their own especially after the Digivice has provided energy for him to evolve in another fight. There is no telling just how many times the Digivice can take energy from her in order for him to evolve without tiring her out.”

“Thank you, Gennai,” Takeru told him and Gennai nodded.

“One more thing, Takeru, when you do start feeling the side effects of the data being removed from your body I suggest coming back here. It’ll be easier that way,” Gennai said and Takeru nodded as they walked back to the others. It was going to be fun to explain this all to them...

::Redwood Forest Realm::

“Something’s not right,” Ken mumbled from where he sat on Imperial Dramon Dragon Mode's bacl. The Dragon Digimon was flying slower than normal so his partners could actually see what was below them instead of just a blur.

“What?” Daisuke asked as he turned towards Ken. The goggle-head heard him say something but he wasn’t sure just what.

Ken turned to look at Daisuke a look of bewilderment on his face. “I said something’s not right,” Ken told him.

“What do you mean?” Daisuke asked as he crossed his arms behind his head and leaned back against Imperial Dramon’s cannon.

“We should have seen some signs of civilization by now,” Ken told him and Daisuke had to agree with him there. They had been flying up here for awhile now.

“Maybe there isn’t any?” Daisuke asked really just throwing the possibility out there since he didn’t really believe it. After all someone had to have attacked the other place they had found.

Ken thought for a moment. “Maybe we’re just looking in the wrong places,” he said and Daisuke starred at him.

“How could we be looking in the wrong places? We’re looking at this entire realm!” Daisuke pointed out.

“I mean maybe they aren’t living out in the open anymore. Think about it whatever attacked the one village obviously wasn’t something they could handle so maybe everyone else hid in caves and such to avoid whatever it was that attacked that place.”

“There’s just one problem with that.”

“What?”

“Where are the abandoned towns?”

::Real World::

After they had finished speaking with Gennai, Takeru and the others had gone back to the high school having nothing else they needed to do within the Digital World. “What should we do now?” Hikari asked looking at the others as they walked out the front gate of the school.

“Any chance you can call Krista?” Tsumon asked as he walked up to Trace.

“Nope unlike Luna’s my phone can’t call different realms and Krista isn’t here right now. We’ll have to wait until later tonight before she comes back,” Trace told him and Tsumon walked back over to beside Kohana pouting slightly. He was hoping to have this done as quickly as possible because _he_ wanted to evolve.

“We might as well go to do something while we wait for them to return,” Taichi suggested and the others nodded in agreement. The small group began walking down the streets thinking about what they had learned from Gennai as well as just what they were going to do until the others came back.

::Redwood Forest Realm::

After awhile of flying around Imperial Dramon Dragon Mode returned to where the others were at so Daisuke and Ken could report what they had seen. “Find anything?” Iori asked while Daisuke and Ken climbed off Imperial Dramon’s back.

“Some more ruins like this place except they’re more overgrown then this one,” Ken answered once his feet hit the ground.

“Yeah, but no city with actual living people in it!” Daisuke added as he let go of Imperial Dramon Dragon Mode when he was close enough to the ground.

“Great just where is everyone that lives on this planet?” Miyako wondered as she sat down on a ruined wall.

“We think they may be hiding underground or something like that to avoid whatever it is that’s been happening,” Daisuke told her as him and Ken took a few steps away from Imperial Dramon Dragon Mode as he devolved back down to V-mon and Wormmon.

Krista shook her head as she leaned back against a rock wall. “I don’t like this. Something big happened here and whatever it was aren’t we putting ourselves at risks being here?” she asked them.

“If someone or something was going to attack us it probably would have done so by now so we should be safe,” Koushirou answered and Krista nodded.

“Did you guys find anything new?” Ken asked.

“A few more paintings like this first one we found,” Luna answered starring at said paintings. “These ones also sort of resemble Digimon, but at the same time could just be some type of demon from whatever fairytales they have here.”

“If they really are Digimon then how did they get here? I mean from what we’ve seen the only Digimon capable of coming here are our own and Kitsumon. Not to mention this place is a bit behind in technology to even gain access to the Digital World,” Iori pointed out.

“I’ve been thinking on it myself and the only answer I could come up with is that maybe at some point this realm had technology equal to or greater than what your own world has. As for how the Digimon might have gotten here I have no idea. The only place Digimon should be able to go to is your world. If any managed to get here they got here by means I can’t figure out,” Krista told him.

“Then maybe they have a Digital World of their own?” Daisuke suggested and everyone turned to look at him. “What? It’s possible isn’t it? I mean the Digital World is connected to us because of our technology if they had their own technology why couldn’t they have their own Digital World?”

Luna and Krista looked at each other. “Actually he could be right…” Krista told them.

“Really?” Daisuke asked a bit surprised. He had only been throwing out a random thought he hadn’t even believed one-hundred percent that it could be a possibility.

“Well yes since there are realms that we’ve seen that is almost an exact duplicate of the world you live in now, but without any Digimon in it. It’s entirely possible that this one is also connected to its own Digital World. Or was any way since I doubt with how little technology they have now that they could connect to it anymore,” Krista told them as she glanced around the place wondering what might have happened to the Digital World once the connection had been severed.

“It would also explain why the paintings don’t quite look like Digimon we have seen because if they had their own Digital World it’s possible the Digimon there would appear different then the Digimon we have here. The problem is even if Daisuke is correct we won’t know unless we find something that proves that there is an actual Digital World here,” Koushirou stated and the others had to agree. They could speculate all they wanted, but without any sure proof that they were, if fact, correct it didn’t really do them any good.

“Well there is also the possibility that was mentioned earlier. That Kitsumon himself was the one to bring Digimon here if the theory of another Digital World being here doesn’t work,” Bithamon shouted down to them. She had been asked by Luna to climb one of the tall tree’s to keep an eye out for anything that might cause them trouble.

Krista pushed away from the wall with a sigh. “We can theorize all we want, but it’s not going to do us any good unless we actually find proof to back it up,” Krista said and the others had to agree with her.

“Maybe we should head back for now since it’s getting late. I’m also kind of curious what Takeru and the others found out if they managed to find Gennai or Qinglongmon,” Ken suggested and the others decided it was a good idea. After Bithamon had climbed out of the redwood Luna and Krista made doorways appear so they could return home. Almost as soon as Luna walked through the doorway her text message music began to play.

Daisuke was trying not to laugh having recognized the ringtone as one from a child’s television program. Luna glared at him while she dug out her cell phone. “I’m glad you think it’s funny Daisuke since you’ve obviously seen the show enough times to recognize the tune,” she told him which effectively stopped Daisuke’s laughing, but this time Ken was the one trying not to laugh. “He can’t be in to bad of a mood if he’s willing to mess with my ringtones,” Luna mumbled as she read the text message. “It seems Trace and the others want to talk to us. Trace’s text says they’re at some type of Karaoke place.” She handed the phone to Miyako since it came with the places name and she had no clue where it was at.

Miyako read the text then handed the phone back to Luna. “It’s not too far from here,” Miyako told them. A fifteen walk later and they had arrived where the others were at. They met up with them inside since the room that had been rented was big enough for all of them to sit in.

“So where you able to find Gennai?” Daisuke asked as he snatched some of the food that was on the table while V-mon did the same.

“We did, but only because he was waiting for us,” Yamato answered.

“I’m guessing since you wanted to talk to us that you find some type of answer to the questions you had?” Krista asked as she sat beside her brother to keep Luna and Trace separated since Takeru sat on the other side of him. She didn’t know just what had between the two of them, but it was obvious Trace was avoiding Luna while also trying to act like nothing happen which wasn’t going very well. For now she was willing to let the twins work it out amongst themselves, but if things continued like this she was going to interfere.

“Yeah we did and we need your help with it if you’re willing,” Takeru told her closing his cell phone up. He had been using it to text Kohana about what Gennai had warned them about when it came to Tsumon evolving. He hadn’t wanted Tsumon to hear it since he knew the Digimon would try to avoid evolving past his adult stage altogether something which would probably cause trouble for Kohana down the road. Later tonight he would send e-mails out to explain it to the others so they would know to watch out for it.

“I’m willing to give you any help that I’m able to,” Krista told him wondering just why they would need her help.

“We might also need your help Lu depending on what type of answer we get from Kris,” Trace told her leaning forward so he could look at his twin since she had sat next to Krista. She nodded her head glad to be of help.

“If you can, we need you to figure out if you can give Haru-chan a crest without it somehow affecting the Digital World in a negative way,“ Taichi explained causing some of the others to look at her. They really hadn’t expected that type of request.

Krista thought for a moment as to what she would have to do in order to find out. “Alright I’ll look into it. It might take some time depending on just how big the Digital World’s book is not to mention others I’m probably going to have to read,” she told them.

“Books?” Kohana questioned.

“Yep, everything that has happened to you so far is recorded in a book that is stored within my realm which looks like a really old library. Anyway there is also a book for the Digital World. I can also use them to read seven days in advance, but it’s always vague so I don’t somehow screw up someone’s destiny on accident. Either way when it comes to something big like giving someone a crest I’ll be able to figure out just how it’ll effect what should and shouldn’t happen. Give me a few days though to figure this out. Fast reading isn’t really an option in this case,” Krista explained to them.

“Still don’t understand how a normal human could control destiny,” V-mon said between mouthfuls. Evolving always made him hungry.

Krista looked at him for a moment before laughing. “I don’t I just guard it! Otherwise don’t you think I would have done something to keep him out of this all together?” Krista asked having poked Trace in the arm when she had said him.

“Good point,” V-mon conceded then returned his focus on eating. Takeru shook his head and stood up to order more food since Wormmon was eating almost as much as V-mon not counting what Daisuke had managed to consume. He was defiantly going to make sure that Daisuke and Ken helped pay for the bill.

“Did you guys happen to find anything?” Yamato asked them.

“A few more paintings and a lot of books too burnt to read anything,” Koushirou told him.

“Daisuke and I also found some more ruins but they have to be older then the first ones we found with how overgrown they were,” Ken added.

“So no new information then?” Taichi asked.

“Just a lot of theories,” Sora told them.

“Well we knew this couldn’t be very easy. After all the more times we encounter a Digimon the more clever they get at hiding their tracks,” Taichi sighed wishing for once things could just be simple.

“Let’s just be glad they never seem to learn from each other’s mistakes,” Takeru said as he sat back down having ordered the food and Taichi nodded his head in agreement.

“I’m going to go ahead and leave since I have a lot of reading to do. With the way things are going the sooner I get it done the better,” Krista said as she stood up. Wizarmon, who had moved to a corner of the room, walked over to her. “You two can stay as long as you want since unlike the Chosen Children you don’t have school tomorrow,” Krista said patting her siblings on the shoulder.

“Alright Kris,” Trace told her as Bithamon took Krista’s seat curling up into a ball. Rascmon starred at her having been planning to do the same thing, but the cat Digimon had moved quicker than him. Bithamon seemed to sense Rascmon’s stare because she opened one eye and grinned at him. Rascmon just shook his head and laid it down closing his eyes again.

“Thank you,” Kohana told her and Krista nodded as she walked out after everyone had said good bye Wizarmon leaving with her.

Yamato pulled his wallet out of his pocket then pulled some money out of it handing it over to Takeru. “Here use this to pay for my part of the bill. I have to head home since I have an essay due soon,” he explained causing Gabumon to stand up.

“Alright good luck with it,” Takeru told him. Like Krista, Yamato left after everyone had said goodbye Gabumon following him.

“Whose turn is it now?” Daisuke asked and Hikari just handed the microphone over to him.

-X-

Takeru sighed as he walked into the apartment Patamon riding on his shoulder. “Welcome back,” his mother greeted as she walked into the hallway.

“We’re back,” Patamon returned the greeting as he hopped of Takeru’s shoulder while the teen switched his boots for slippers.

“Did you two have fun?” she asked as she picked the small Digimon up.

“Yep!” Patamon said grinning.

“Daisuke got a little carried away though,” Takeru told her as he walked towards her.

She laughed slightly as they walked into the living room. “I’m not surprised with how much energy he has,” she told Takeru and he nodded in agreement.

“Also can you help me remember I need to return Yamato’s change to him? He left early because he had some homework he needed to work on and gave me some money to pay his part of the bill,” Takeru explained.

Natsuko nodded. “I’ll remind you tomorrow before you leave for school. If I’m not here I’ll just attach a note to your bento.”

“Thanks.”

“Did you guys manage to think of a way to beat the Digimon, Kitsumon?” Natsuko asked as she sat down placing Patamon in her lap. The small Digimon shook his head.

“Everyone’s trying, but we’re not really finding anything,” Takeru told her as he sat down beside her.

“Just be careful, okay?” his mother asked placing a hand on his shoulder.

Takeru smiled at her and said, “I’m being as careful as possible. Hikari and the others are also making sure that one of them is with me at all times.”

“Do you think it would be a good idea to have Yamato over again? I mean incase he attacks here again?” Patamon asked looking up at the two of them.

“Miyako and Iori are here in the apartment complex if something goes wrong,” Takeru reminded him, but he knew neither of them had a Digimon strong enough to really do that much damage to Kitsumon. They would only really be able to stall until the others arrived. “On top of that he’s pretty busy. I don’t even know how he’s managed to make time to do all that he’s doing with college and the job he has.”

Natsuko knew how her oldest had managed to make the time to help, but kept the information to herself. He had quit his job when everything had started to where her and his father, Hiroaki, was paying for Yamato’s expenses now so he wouldn't have to worry about them. Hiroaki was paying for the apartment because since Yamato had moved out he had more money than Natsuko who still had Takeru to worry about. She was in charge of paying off his other bills and anything else that happened to come up. As for the college bills from what she knew of Yamato had paid them off already using some of the money he had gotten from his band gigs. He would have used it now to pay for the rest of his bills but his parents had insisted that he kept it back for emergencies. Besides as far as both of them where concerned it was a small price to pay.

“Don’t worry about it Takeru, your brother knows how to manage his time,” his mother told him squeezing his shoulder gently. Takeru nodded in agreement after all his brother had managed to balance school, his band gigs, and his life as a Chosen Child, but what about the others that had started college? Just how where they making time for everything? It made Takeru feel a bit guilty even though none of this was really his fault. He couldn't control what was currently happening.

“I’m going to go work on some homework then head to bed,” Takeru told his mother as he stood up.

“Alright Takeru, good night,” she told him.

“Good night, mom,” he told her and leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek before heading into his room.

Natsuko sighed after Takeru had closed his bedroom door. “He worries too much,” she told Patamon.

“He’s afraid that what’s going on is going to mess up everyone’s lives somehow,” Patamon told her as he looked up at her standing up on his hind legs.

“College classes can be taken again and new jobs can be found if they end up losing them, but the damage Kitsumon might and will do cannot be undone. I wonder if he realizes that’s how his friends and brother view this,” Natsuko asked as she looked at her son’s bedroom door.

“Of course, but it doesn’t mean he isn’t going to worry!” Patamon pointed out. Natsuko looked at the small Digimon and smiled. She picked Patamon up and gently hugged him.

“Thank you for keeping him safe,” Natsuko told him and Patamon smiled.


	9. Chapter Nine Simplicity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copy righted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it’s Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copy right for it.

“ _I’m going to go work on some homework then head to bed,” Takeru told his mother as he stood up._

“ _Alright Takeru, good night,” she told him._

“ _Good night, mom,” he told her and leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek before heading into his room._

_Natsuko sighed after Takeru had closed his bedroom door. “He worries too much,” she told Patamon._

“ _He’s afraid that what’s going on is going to mess up everyone’s lives somehow,” Patamon told her as he looked up at her standing up on his hind legs._

“ _College classes can be taken again and new jobs can be found if they end up losing them, but the damage Kitsumon might and will do cannot be undone. I wonder if he realizes that’s how his friends and brother view this,” Natsuko asked as she looked at her son’s bedroom door._

“ _Of course, but it doesn’t mean he isn’t going to worry!” Patamon pointed out. Natsuko looked at the small Digimon and smiled. She picked Patamon up and gently hugged him._

“ _Thank you for keeping him safe,” Natsuko told him and Patamon smiled._

Takeru had done as he had said, but before he had gone to bed he had taken a bath as well. He had then pulled on some pajama shorts and was in the middle of pulling on a loose white t-shirt when he heard an explosion somewhere very close. The teen quickly tugged the shirt on and ran out of the bathroom almost running into Patamon. He sidestepped around him as he headed for his room to grab his D-3 and D-terminal. “What you think is going on, Takeru?” Patamon asked while Takeru pulled a pair of loose jeans over his pajama shorts.

“It’s too flashy to be Kitsumon so it’s probably just a random Digimon attack,” Takeru told him as he stuffed his D-3 and D-Terminal into his pockets. As he walked quickly out of his room he spotted his mother at the archway to the living room.

“Good luck,” she told him and Takeru nodded as he walked to the door stopping to pull his boots on before heading outside. Since Takeru’s hair was still wet Patamon rode on his shoulder as the teen quickly descended the steps. About half way down he ran into Iori and Miyako with their Digimon. Unlike the other two Miyako had also grabbed her laptop.

“I knew I forgot something,” Iori commented when he spotted the laptop as well as they descended the steps.

“Good thing one of us remembered it,” Takeru told the two of them as he jumped the last three steps.

“Any particular reason you’re smiling, Takeru?” Hawkmon asked as he flew beside him even though Miyako was still descending the stairs. Armadimon was the slowest of them all but the Digimon was doing pretty good for himself.

“Just glad that it’s a regular Chosen Child task instead of the fight for my life it’s been lately,” Takeru answered. Another explosion then occurred still in the same area as the first one.

“It’s coming from the parking lot!” Miyako told them as she caught up with Takeru, Patamon and Hawkmon. Takeru paused glancing towards the parking lot giving Iori and Armadimon enough time to catch up.

“I just hope this will be quick. I don’t like the idea of spending the entire night collecting up Digimon,” Iori told them.

“I’m more worried about whether my mom bought the Digimon car insurance yet or not…” Takeru said as he ran for the parking lot the others following after him. There they spotted a few Meramon. The Digimon had been throwing around a few random attacks not really caring what they hit. They hadn’t actually hit any of the cars yet, but a couple of light poles would need to be replaced as well as a few scooters. Hopefully their owners had gotten the Digimon insurance.

The three Digimon rushed forward as they evolved to Holsmon, Pegasmon and Digmon respectively. “We’re pretty lucky it’s just Meramon this shouldn’t take too long,” Miyako commented as she opened her laptop then waited for the Digimon to be rounded up before she would open a portal up. It didn’t take very long for the three Armor Digimon to get the Meramon in a group and once they did Iori used his D-3 to open up a portal and sent the Meramon back to the Digital World.

“It’s been awhile since something like this has happened,” Iori commented as he glanced around the parking lot.

“Yeah, but I agree with Takeru this is a lot nicer to deal with then what we have been doing lately,” Miyako told them as she closed the laptop. No need to run the batteries down if they could help it.

“I just wonder how they managed to get into the real world. They weren’t strong enough to emerge without a portal,” Takeru said just as Miyako’s text tone went off. She handed her laptop over to Iori so she could read it.

“It’s from Hikari they had the same trouble near their apartment complex,” Miyako explained.

“How did they manage to spread out so far without anyone noticing them?” Digmon wondered as he walked over to the Chosen Children. About then they heard another explosion from further within the city.

“I do not know, but I say we’re not done yet,” Pegasmon told the others as Takeru and Miyako ran over to their Digimon. As for Iori, he had to wait for Digmon to devolve before him and Armadimon could join them on one of the flying Digimon. Once they had managed to get on the two Digimon flew in the general direction they believed the explosion to be in.

For the remainder of the night the Chosen Children as well as others were forced to round up several groups of Digimon that had appeared in the human world. They were lucky enough that none of the Digimon that had appeared were higher than their adult stage so they were pretty easy to handle even for those who had volunteer to help with the round up. This was a good thing because if they had been in higher stages the Chosen Children would have had to work alone and it would have taken twice as long to finish. It was nice to have the help and it was something that was occurring more and more now.

When the sky began to change colors signifying that the sun was close to rising the Chosen Children were in one of the parks gathering the last of the Digimon up. “Just what was that all about? All of them were weak enough that we didn’t have to take care of them,” Yamato commented as Were Garurumon tossed a Digimon at the laptop he was holding with a Digital Portal open.

“Maybe a portal opened up somewhere,” Ken suggested as he watched.

Koushirou looked at him and spoke, “If there is one we’ll have to find it.”

“Couldn’t this be some type of distraction Kitsumon is trying to cause?” Daisuke asked not wanting to spend the rest of the day in search of the portal. He already knew school was canceled because of what had happened Takeru and Yamato’s father had called them to inform them of such.

“For what reason? To keep us from sleeping?” Sora asked as she looked at him with a look that said she doubted it.

“It probably is just some random portal,” Miyako told him.

Daisuke groaned, “The one rare Digimon caused day off and I don’t get to use it to sleep in…”

Taichi turned to look at him. “You weren’t going to be able to sleep in any way since we already decided to use the freed up time to search the ruins,” Taichi reminded him.

Daisuke sighed. “I could hope…” he told him.

Once all the Digimon were captured the Chosen Children spread out to search for the portal. After a few hours of searching for it Koushirou managed to find it in an elementary school and closed it down. When they were done the ones in charge of searching the ruins left while Takeru and Patamon began to walk back to the apartment Hikari and Tailmon tagging along to make sure nothing happened to him. The four of them where about half way there when they had ran into Trace, Lee, Rascmon and Bearmon. “What exactly happened last night?” Trace asked as he looked at them.

“Koushirou thinks an elementary student left a portal open by mistake,” Takeru explained to them.

“Does that happen often?” Lee asked.

“It use to until people got more used to using them. This is the first time it’s happened in awhile,” Hikari told him.

“Most likely it was the kids first time trying it,” Takeru added.

“But haven’t most kids had Digimon for awhile now?” Rascmon asked.

“Their parents probably forbade them from going into the Digital World until now. I mean its not always the safest place to be though it has gotten better over the years,” Tailmon told him.

“At least they were all low levels,” Trace commented having also spent the night rounding them up since it was better then staying in one of the hotel rooms they had rented playing video games.

“Only because most high levels have no interest in the human world. All the low levels believe they can become stronger here,” Patamon told him.

“They were ones that were just too lazy to do work for what other Digimon had already achieved,” Bearmon explained.

“Basically, some also think if they come here they can get a human partner. Any way what are you up to today?” Takeru asked.

“Sneaking out of the confinement cell Lu insists is a hotel room,” Trace answered a smile on his face. She had let her guard down thanks to what had happened so he was free to wander around without an escort. Of course he knew she would be mad at him once he got back, but right now he just really wanted to have some type of freedom.

“Now we’re trying to find a bank that will accept Trace’s card since he’s decided that he wishes to hide out in the arcade today,” Rascmon added.

“Trace said he’d teach me how to win at crane machines!” Lee told them grinning. The young teen was way too wired now to sleep so Trace had allowed him to tag alone.

“What about you guys?” Trace asked.

“Home, I’m going to try and catch up on some of that sleep I lost thanks to the Digimon,” Takeru explained.

“Same here, but first I’m going to make sure Takeru gets home safely,” Hikari told him.

“I’m kind of surprised Kohana isn’t with you,” Trace noted since she had been with the two whenever it was possible for her.

“She’s at home watching her little brother since she figured it would be nice to give her mother some time to herself,” Tailmon told him.

“I see. Any way good luck on catching up with sleep,” Trace said before turning to leave.

“Bye!” Lee said and followed after his brother.

-X-

Takeru had managed to get a few hours of sleep before waking up and getting up. Since his mother was at work it was only him and Patamon in the apartment right now, but she had been there when he had gotten back so she had made them breakfast before they went to lay down. The small Digimon was still asleep so Takeru went to watch television. It was about an hour later that he got a call from Hikari.

“Takeru I was wondering since Kohana has to stay home and watch Katsu if you wanted to hang out over there today? I already asked Kohana if it was alright. I even asked if it was okay for Trace and Lee seems how we keep running into them,” Hikari told him.

Takeru glanced towards his bedroom wondering if Patamon was up yet just in time to see the small Digimon walk out of it. “Patamon do you want to go to Kohana-chan’s apartment today?” he asked the small Digimon. It was obvious Patamon was still half asleep since all the Digimon did was nod his head. “Sure Hikari it’ll be better than being stuck in here all day.”

“Good and don’t you dare try walking over there yourself! I don’t care how close you live to her I’m still heading over to your apartment and we’ll walk over there together,” Hikari told him.

Takeru rolled his eyes and held back on the retort that popped into his head. She didn’t really deserve it even if it would just be him teasing her since she had been doing so much to keep him safe. He really was glad she was his friend. “Alright I promise I’ll be good,” Takeru told her.

“Good I’ll be over in a few,” Hikari told him before hanging up. Takeru sighed and walked into his room to fetch his D-Terminal and D-3.

\- X –

It was a little before noon and the red hair teen had decided it was a good time to wonder around the streets of Odaiba his two Digimon closely following after him. The teen currently had his hood down showing his hair to be about mid back in length and that his eyes were ivy green in color. He was a bit shocked by how big the district was even more so then he should have been because he knew it was just a part of the city called Tokyo. “Kitsumon said it was big, but I didn’t really believe him,” he muttered as he starred into a random show window. It reminded him of the fact that while he was able to freely travel between this realm and the Redwood Forest realm there was no way for him to really buy anything as he had no money. “Of course Kitsumon didn’t give me any,” he griped as he walked past the store window. He was going to make sure the damned fox Digimon did the next time he saw him. He knew he had to have some because Kitsumon was the one paying for the apartment he would be staying at here.

The teen looked around and noticed that a lot of people where starring at him which he didn’t understand why they were. He knew here Digimon where more common then were he came from so he had figured everything would be fine with walking around a bit like he was. “Why are they starring at us?” Black Gabumon asked also noticing what was going on.

“It’s because it’s very rare for someone to have two Digimon,” they heard someone say behind them in English since they had been speaking English the entire time and the three turned to look at who had spoken. It was a teenage boy around the same age as him with blonde hair and the Digimon sitting on his head made it to where he knew who it was.

 _That has to be Takeru and Patamon the one Kitsumon wants killed which means…_ he thought as he glanced at the teenage girl standing beside him with the cat Digimon in her arms, _She has to be Hikari and her Digimon’s name was Tailmon._ “Is it really that rare?” he asked in Japanese. He could speak it, but it was easier for him to speak in English.

Hikari nodded. “Yes the two of us only know of one other case and he lives in the United States. By the way my name is Hikari Kamiya and this is my Digimon Tailmon,” she told him saying it in Japanese since she knew he could speak it now.

“I’m Takeru Takaishi and my Digimon’s name is Patamon,” Takeru told him also speaking in Japanese now.

“I’m Aidan Mc Troy and these are Black Gabumon and Black Agumon,” Aidan said as he pointed to each of his Digimon as he introduced them. When he did point to them the Digimon would nod his head in greeting.

“It’s kind of interesting running into you… My older brother has a Gabumon while Hikari’s older brother has an Agumon,” Takeru told him.

Aidan would have rolled his eyes if they wouldn’t see it as rude so he instead faked interest in what Takeru had. “It really is. How far can they evolve to?” he asked

“Both of them can evolve to their Ultimate stage then in that stage combine into a single Digimon that is also Ultimate but more powerful than a normal one,” Patamon answered.

“What about you how far can you evolve to?” Black Gabumon asked as he looked up at Patamon.

“I can reach Ultimate and that’s about it. How about you?” Patamon asked.

Black Gabumon thought for a moment before he answered, “I can reach ultimate in theory, but the highest I have actually gone is perfect.”

“In theory?” Tailmon asked looking at him. It was obviously an answer she hadn’t expected.

“Yes, Aidan is really good when it comes to understanding us and he believes while we have the strength to go that high there has never actually been any reason for us to reach it,” Black Agumon answered and Black Gabumon nodded in agreement.

“How long have you had your Digimon?” Takeru asked turning his attention from the two Digimon back to Aidan.

“About four years now,” Aidan lied not wanting them to know the truth. His two Digimon had lied as well both of them more then capable of reaching their Ultimate Stage. If they hadn’t been Kitsumon wouldn’t have allowed them to come here in the first place to try and deal with some of the Chosen Children. “If I remember the news correctly you where some of the first children to receive Digimon right?” he asked.

Hikari nodded. “Yep us, our brothers and three other friends where,” Hikari answered.

Aidan was getting slightly bored of talking to them since they were just repeating stuff he already knew. He pulled the sleeve back on his sweater to look at the watch that was on his wrist then looked at the two of them.”I have to go I promised to meet my parents in fifteen minutes and I need to head over to where I’m suppose to meet up,” he told them

The seven of them said good bye and the continued on their way. Aidan was more than glad to be free of them for the moment. “Those two are way too trusting for their own good,” Aidan commented as he linked his hands behind his head while he walked.

“They grew up differently then you did,” Black Gabumon pointed out to him.

Black Gabumon’s comment made Aidan pause as he turned back to look at the two teenagers walking down the street. “It must have been nice,” he muttered both of his Digimon quite capable of hearing him.

“They couldn’t have grown up to differently they have Digimon and they got them before anyone else in their world did,” Black Agumon pointed out. Of course Aiden hadn’t been the first, but still it couldn’t have been all that different.

Aidan nodded his head and continued to walk. “Hmm you have a point there,” he said.

“Yes, but it was still different. They had others while Aidan didn’t he was on his own,” Black Gabumon told them trying to get his point across. He didn’t want Aidan to be upset at them because of how they behaved. The dog like Digimon wanted him to realize things had been different for them and thus they behaved different then he did. In fact, he was kind of hoping Aidan would drop this entire thing and just hide somewhere here in the city until Kitsumon was defeated.

Aidan, on the other hand, didn’t like where the conversation was going so he decided to change it to something else, “Any way let’s head to Tokyo Tower. I want to see why people like it so much.”

“Shouldn’t we be attacking them?” Black Agumon asked as he looked back at them. They had moved far enough away that he couldn’t see them anymore, but it wouldn’t be that hard for him to track them down if Aiden did want to attack them.

“Later, there is no reason to fight now. Two Ultimate’s isn’t something to over look. Especially with how powerful they are,” Aidan answered.

“But we are equal in strength to them,” Black Gabumon said a slight hurt tone in his voice.

Aidan turned to look at the two Digimon realizing he said something wrong. He could tell both of his Digimon where thinking he doubted they were strong enough to do what he was currently needing them to do at the moment. He walked over to them and placed his hand on their heads. “I know you guys can match them in strength and probably overcome them, but remember fighting in a city this big will result in other casualties if four Ultimate Digimon were to face off without holding back,” he told them and was glad to see both their moods recovered.

“They wouldn’t let innocents get hurt. They won’t fight all out here,” Black Agumon argued.

Aidan shrugged and continued walking. “They would if they thought it would mean less harm in the long run. They did when they fought Shaitanmon and there were more of them then,” Aidan reminded them.

Black Gabumon didn’t continue walking as he glanced at Black Agumon who also wasn’t walking and said, “He just wants to play doesn’t he?”

Black Agumon sighed. “Yes… Not that I can blame him,” he said and Black Gabumon nodded then the two of them began following him again. Sometimes they thought they had Aidan figured out while others they weren’t so sure. The two really wish they knew just what was Aidan was thinking though since he hadn’t even confided in them just what it was that he had planned.

-X-

Not too long after Aidan had left they had run into Trace like Hikari had expected but Lee wasn’t with him. “How come we keep running into you?” Patamon asked Trace when he joined up with them.

“That’s because I’ve promised Lu I would stick to this area,” Trace told him.

“What happened to Lee?” Hikari asked.

“He finally got tired and wanted to head back to the hotel. We just finished dropping him off,” Rascmon answered.

“So where you headed to this time?” Trace asked as he looked at the two teens.

“Kohana’s apartment you’re welcomed to join us if you want. I already asked Kohana since I figured we might run into you,” Hikari said as they continued to walk.

“Her parents won’t freak out when they get home will they?” Trace asked. It was then Takeru noticed he wasn’t wearing the beanie anymore and Trace had cut his hair like Takeru had suspected. With it being shorter and his bangs longer most of his piercings’ where now hidden by his hair, but the highlights fixed because of his hair growing was still there.

“Her Father might, but I doubt her Mother will. Besides they do know what’s going on so they most likely won’t get upset,” Hikari told him.

“Alright then,” Trace said continuing to walk with them as they headed towards Kohana’s apartment. Since they had run into Trace about two-thirds the way there it didn’t take them very long to reach the front door. After Hikari had ringed the doorbell they waited for Kohana or Tsumon to answer it. In the end it was Tsumon who opened it with a grin on his face.

“Hello everyone! Come on in,” he told them as he moved out of the way to let them in. The three Digimon entered first followed by the teens who switched their shoes out for slippers. Then they walked into the living room where Kohana was sitting on the couch holding her baby brother. Like his sister his hair was brown, but instead of blue eyes he had brown.

Rascmon walked over to her sitting down in front of her. “What’s his name?” Rascmon asked.

“His name is Katsu,” she answered as Katsu reached out to Rascmon. The dog Digimon’s tail wagged slightly as he gently rubbed the little hand with the side of his nose.

“Rascmon is a sucker for anything cute and small. You’re actually lucky Patamon that you’re always up out of his reach,” Trace explained as he sat down.

“How come?” Patamon asked looking at Rascmon.

“He has a tendency of babying things such as you. When I went to Primary Village last year it took a while before I could get him to leave with all the baby Digimon around,” Trace explained.

Tsumon flopped onto the couch beside Kohana so he could look at Katsu as well. “Hey Takeru how come he doesn’t have a Digimon yet?”

Takeru sat down beside Tsumon thinking for a moment. “I don’t know. I heard a Digivice appeared right?” he asked looking at Kohana.

Kohana nodded. “Yep about a week ago or so, but no Digiegg. Then again my mother thinks maybe that’s best because it would be hard caring for a baby Digimon on top of caring for Katsu,” Kohana told them as she stood. “I’m going to go put him down for a nap I’ll be back in a bit,” she said before leaving the room.

“It’s kind of strange that Katsu hasn’t gotten one right?” Tsumon asked looking at them.

“Not really I mean some newborn babies get Digimon almost right away, but not all of them do,” Hikari told them.

“Yeah there was this big thing on the news about a year ago about how a scientist was trying to figure out why it was like that, but couldn’t,” Takeru added.

Tsumon nodded then jumped off the couch. “Do you guys wanna play a board game? Kohana’s mother has some from when she was a kid that eight people can play! Um, you guys can read English right?” He asked.

“Digimon seem to be able to naturally, but we should be able to read enough to understand it,” Hikari told him.

“If you guys have trouble I can translate it for you,” Trace told him since English was his native language.

“Why do I have a feeling you’ll try and cheat by translating wrong,” Takeru said eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Trace.

Trace just grinned and Hikari shook her head. “Yeah I think I’ll rely on Kohana to translate,” she said.

“It’s no fun if you guys figure it out before I even get to try!” Trace told them.

“Figure what out?” Kohana asked as she walked back into the room.

“That he’ll try and cheat at a board game by translating it wrong for Takeru and Hikari so they want you to translate it for them if they don’t understand it,” Tsumon answered before he ran to fetch the board game out of Kohana’s room.

“And how do you guys know I won’t do the same thing?” Kohana asked while smiling.

“Fine I’ll just snatch your Japanese to English dictionary out of your room,” Hikari stated. Even though Kohana could read and speak Japanese the book was required material for school so she had to have a copy in her bag for class. With that Hikari followed after Tsumon to fetch the dictionary.

“Just what game are we playing?” Takeru asked looking at Kohana.

“Knowing Tsumon it’s most likely Monopoly,” Kohana answered.

“Good then I shouldn’t have too much trouble since I’ve played the American set with Sora and Yamato before,” Takeru answered grinning. The American Set was actually the normal edition like the ones in the United States, but was also bilingual to where it was Japanese and English.

“There goes that advantage,” Trace groaned as Tsumon returned with the monopoly set followed by Hikari with the Japanese to English dictionary.

Takeru and Hikari then helped Kohana clear off the coffee table so they could set the board up there so everyone could play. Once it was cleared off Kohana fetched enough pillows for everyone that needed one to sit on. “Rascmon will you be able to roll the dice?” Kohana asked as they sat down around the board.

“No but Trace can roll them for me and if I catch him cheating I’ll fine him in game money,” Rascmon told her as he sat down beside Trace.

“Even my own Digimon thinks I’ll cheat,” Trace mumbled.

“With good reason to since last time we played a game like this you somehow always made the dice roll good for yourself while bad for me,” Rascmon reminded him and Trace just rolled his eyes.

The teens and Digimon played a couple of games against each other stopping every once in awhile when Kohana needed to tend to her brother or for other things. “Ugh,” Takeru groaned having just gone bankrupt on Rascmon’s hotel chain. “That’s it I volunteer to go get snacks,” he said standing up looking at Kohana. “There in the same cupboard right?” He had been here enough times playing board games like this with the others that Kohana’s mother had shown him and Hikari both where they were stored. She had also shown them other things to help serve the snacks for when Kohana was caught up in a game like she was now.

“Yep and we’re lucky since it was just stocked recently,” Kohana told him. Takeru nodded then walked towards the kitchen. Once he reached it he opened the cupboard up that had the snacks in it to see what was inside before grabbing a tray and a couple of bowels. Once the bowels where filled with various snacks he picked the tray up and headed back in the living room in time to see Rascmon selling off the same hotel chain that had bankrupt him.

“Well I feel better now,” Takeru said grinning as he set the tray down near the board.

“It only happened because she got Boardwalk and Parkplace,” Rascmon said glaring at the hotels sitting on said squares. Hikari, the current owner of the two squares, just shrugged.

“Please let me skip them!” Tsumon prayed as he rolled the dice since it was his turn. He managed to roll enough to land on Go. “Lucky~!”

“My turn,” Trace said retrieving the dice off the board. He managed to land on one of his own squares so he didn’t have to pay anyone.

“How long do you think the others are going to stay in the Redwood Realm?” Kohana asked as she waited for her turn which was after Hikari who was up next.

“I don’t know I doubt they’ll be long though because they’re not really having any luck there,” Takeru told her as he grabbed a pocky stick out of one of the bowels.

“It might just be better for them to stay here at the rate things are going,” Trace said as he watched Hikari roll.

“Taichi was thinking of just having maybe him, Yamato, Sora and Koushirou search them with Luna’s help so more people are here if we need help,” Hikari said after she rolled and was moving her piece. She landed on one of Trace’s squares but thanks to what just happened to Rascmon she had more than enough to pay.

“I’m curious as to why we haven’t found anything,” Rascmon said as Kohana retrieved the dice so she could roll.

“Kitsumon probably covered his tracks if there were any there in the first place,” Takeru said pausing in eating the pocky stick so he could say it.

“There has to be some since we know he’s been there and he to have been leading the two of us somewhere,” Trace told him and Takeru had to agree with that.

“Then maybe what they should be doing is going back to where we ran into Kitsumon and fan out in order to find out just where he was leading you guys,” Rascmon suggested as Kohana landed on Patamon’s space.

With a sigh she handed what she had over to the small Digimon. “I’m out,” she told him.

“Yay!” Patamon said grinning.

“That’s worth a shot I’ll suggest it to my brother once he gets back,” Hikari told them.

They continued to play for a couple of hours until Kohana’s parents came back which seemed like a good time to head home to the others. Trace walked with Takeru and Hikari since the hotel he was staying at as stated before was near Takeru’s apartment. As they approached the hotel Trace stopped causing Takeru to turn and look at him. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I was hoping to get back before Luna did,” Trace explained gesturing towards the hotel. Thanks to the purple streaks in Luna’s hair it was easy enough to spot her waiting in front of the hotel.

“Wait, you were serious about the whole escaping thing?” Hikari asked him and Trace nodded.

Takeru thought back on just how Trace had been behaving around his twin sister the few times he had seen them together since the three of them had spoken in the apartment the day after he had gotten out of the hospital. It wasn’t hard to figure out sometime between then and the next time he saw Trace something had happened now that he was really thinking on it. Especially since that night at the Karaoke he had all but ignored Luna after Krista had left. It was also obvious that now he didn’t want to run into his twin at all after what he did, but the teen had no plan on how to avoid her now.

Takeru sighed and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket hitting one of the speed dial buttons. It wasn’t that great of an idea what he was about to do right now and Luna might end up mad at him as well, but he owed Trace a lot for what had happened with Kitsumon. “Mom this is Takeru I was wondering if it would be alright if I invite a couple of friends over for dinner tonight?” He asked his mother once she had picked up the phone. As he asked the question he was looking at Trace hoping the teen would realize he was talking about him. Trace seemed to have understood because he didn’t seem to be so depressed anymore. Whatever happened between the two twins was probably bigger then Takeru had first thought.

“That’s fine with me, but just who will be coming?” he heard his mother ask.

“Thanks mom and it’ll be Trace and Rascmon,” Takeru answered ignoring the questioning look Hikari was giving him. She must have not figured out something was wrong between Luna and Trace yet but he had a feeling she would soon enough.

“Alright then I’ll see you in few love you hon,” his mother told him.

“I love you to mom I’ll see you in a bit,” he told her before hanging up the phone and turning his attention back to Trace. “Alright I bought you a couple of hours if you decide to hang out after dinner, but some type of explanation as to what is going on would be nice if you’re willing to give it,” Takeru told him.

“Thank you Takeru,” Trace told him smiling slightly, but Takeru could tell he probably wouldn’t be getting that explanation.

“Come on we better hurry up if you don’t want her to spot you,” Hikari told him having figured out what Takeru had by now. Trace nodded and the three of them continued on to Takeru’s apartment.

When they had reached it Hikari said goodbye to them then headed home herself. Takeru opened the door and walked inside Trace and Rascmon following him. “Mom we’re back,” Takeru called into the kitchen figuring his mom would be there after he had switched into slippers.

Natsuko walked out of the kitchen and smiled at her son. “Welcome back and hello Trace and Rascmon,” she said turning to look at the older teen untying his shoes.

Trace looked up at her after he had slipped his shoes off. “Sorry for the intrusion,” he told her.

“Don’t worry about it please make yourselves at home,” Natsuko told him then went back into the kitchen. “Takeru could you help me for a moment,” she called from inside.

“Sure mom just a minute,” Takeru responded turning to look at Trace and Rascmon. “I’ll be back in a bit,” Takeru told them as Patamon hopped off his shoulder onto the floor before Takeru walked into the kitchen to help his mom.

“Is something wrong?” Natsuko asked as she had Takeru fetch some plates and bowels out of the cupboards. Normally Takeru would give her a bit more warning if he was going to invite someone over like this.

“Something seems to have happened between him and his sister. He also did something today that probably has her very angry at him today,” Takeru answered.

“Like what?” Natsuko asked as she began setting food out on the plates.

“I’m not sure of the exact details, but from what I understand after what happened to him his sister put a lot of the same conditions on him that are on me. I ran into him today after the whole Digimon incident and he was just out with his younger brother. He was joking about sneaking out so I didn’t really take him seriously until we reached the hotel he was staying at and he obviously didn’t want to talk to his sister who was waiting for him outside the hotel,” Takeru explained to her.

“Was it really such a good idea to interfere like you did? From what I can tell she has a right to be angry with him. I would be if it was you in his place,” Natsuko told him.

“I wouldn’t have but… Something has seemed off about him ever since we got back and with how long Kitsumon had him confined I don’t really blame him. The day after I got out of the hospital the two came to talk to me and nothing seemed wrong between the two of them then but after words… It’s obvious he doesn’t want to be around her. Even his own older sister made sure to keep the two of them separate when we were at the Karaoke lounge,” Takeru said as he looked at his mother.

“Just don’t be surprised if she ends up mad at you for interfering like this,” his mother warned him and Takeru nodded. He already had a feeling she might be, but was also hoping she would understand.

Once his mother had finished Takeru helped her carry the dishes out to the table then went to fetch Patamon, Trace and Rascmon. After they had eaten Takeru helped his mother with the dishes while Patamon challenged Trace to a game on the Wii that they had gotten for Christmas last year. After he had finished helping he walked out into the hallway and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and called Luna. He had wanted to do it sooner, but hadn’t really found a chance to call her without Trace finding out.

“Since your calling I’m going to assume he’s with you,” he heard Luna say upon answering her phone and Takeru could tell she was not happy with him.

“Yes he has been for most of the day,” Takeru told her.

Takeru heard her sigh then her talking to someone in the background most likely Krista before she spoke again, “Has he talked to you at all about why he is avoiding me?”

“No,” Takeru answered.

“I was hoping he had since he won’t talk about it with anyone else except maybe Rascmon. In fact, I had hoped that was the entire reason you where letting him hide out at your apartment,” she told him the frustration clearly in her voice.

“I just noticed that he’s been acting a bit off even more so after you guys stopped by to talk to me. Something must have happened after you left,” Takeru told her.

“Something did.”

“And you’re not going to tell me either?” Takeru asked wondering just what was going on.

“All I’ll tell you is that we had a fight even though I was just trying to talk to him about something and well… Let’s just say that what happened and why he’s so mad at me is something normal siblings such as you and Yamato wouldn’t have to worry about,” she told him. Even though her answer was vague it at least told him something must have happened with one of their abilities, but at this point there was no telling just whose it was.

“Just how bad is this Luna?” he asked.

He heard her sigh again before she spoke, “Something like this has never happened between him and me before and that’s part of the problem. Takeru, Krista’s telling me that if it’s alright with you and your mother and if Trace wants to he can stay with you. All he’s been doing since he got back after our fight is locking himself up in his room he shares with Lee here at the hotel until either Krista kicks him out and sends him to go find you guys or he leaves it himself. I’m really worried about him, but right now there really is nothing I can do since he’ll only speak to me if he absolutely has to and to keep you guys from figuring out something is wrong.”

“I don’t mind, but I’ll have to ask my mom if she does,” Takeru told.

“Thank you Takeru and a bit of a warning if Trace does for some reason go to sleep don’t be surprised if he seems a bit distant when he wakes up. His nightmares have a tendency to disorient him for awhile since they always seem so realistic that it’ll take him a couple of hours before he’ll actually believe he’s awake,” she told him.

“Thanks for the warning Luna I’ll text you to let you know if he can stay here or not.”

“Alright Takeru I’ll probably talk to you later,” she said before hanging up. Takeru closed his phone and stuffed it back into his pocket before going to speak to his mom about what he learned from Luna. In the end his mother agreed to allow Trace to say if he wanted to and since he didn’t seem to be in that big of a hurry to leave Takeru had a feeling Trace was hoping he could. His suspicions where more than confirmed when his mother asked Trace if he wanted to stay the night because of the look of relief that had appeared on the older teens face.

Not for the first time and most likely not the last Takeru wondered again just what had happened between the two...

-X-

Takeru watched as Calilimon wondered around his room looking at different things. There where defiantly more details to this dream then the last ones since up until now not counting the furniture the room had been empty. “You’re worried about him, huh?” Calilimon asked as she picked up a picture frame to get a better look at the picture. It was a copy of one of the pictures Hikari had taken of Angemon, Angewomon and Calilimon in the park. Patamon must have taken it out of the drawer Takeru had hidden the photos in and put it in the frame because Takeru didn’t remember doing it himself. It didn’t really upset him since the photo’s had been meant for Patamon, but the small Digimon hadn’t wanted to look at them when he had first gotten them so Takeru had hid them instead of just getting rid of them.

“The idea that those two could have a fight that made one of them want to avoid the other when ever possible seems strange. I mean could you ever see yourself and Tsumon having a fight that would make you react the same way?” he asked her.

Calilimon shook her head as she carefully replaced the frame in its original spot. “No, not really. I mean even after he became Shaitanmon I was trying to hunt him down to help him. Not once did I try to avoid my brother though there were times I found myself glad that I didn’t find him since I knew it would end in fighting,” she answered as she turned to look at him. “At least not everything is bad right now.”

Takeru nodded. “You must be relieved to have heard about Tsumon.”

“For the most part yes since I don’t like the fact that he still has some damage to him.”

“As Gennai said there isn’t anything we can do about it we’ll just have to wait and see what happens,” Takeru reminded her and she slowly nodded.

“Takeru?”

“Hm?”

“Sorry that the two of us have caused you so much trouble…”


	10. Chapter Ten No Thanks Needed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copy righted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it’s Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copy right for it.

“ _The idea that those two could have a fight that made one of them want to avoid the other when possible seems strange. I mean could you ever see yourself and Tsumon having a fight that would make you react the same way?” he asked her._

_Calilimon shook her head as she carefully replaced the frame in its original spot. “No, not really. I mean even after he became Shaitanmon I was trying to hunt him down to help him. Not once did I try to avoid my brother though there were times I found myself glad that I didn’t find him since I knew it would end in fighting,” she answered as she turned to look at him. “At least not everything is bad right now.”_

_Takeru nodded. “You must be relieved to have heard about Tsumon.”_

“ _For the most part yes since I don’t like the fact that he still has some damage to him.”_

“ _As Gennai said there isn’t anything we can do about it we’ll just have to wait and see what happens,” Takeru reminded her and she slowly nodded._

“ _Takeru?”_

“ _Hm?”_

“ _Sorry that the two of us have caused you so much trouble…”_

Takeru slowly opened his eyes then sat up in bed as his alarm went off. He turned slightly so he could turn it off then looked towards his desk. Last night Trace had decided to set the futon up that Takeru had brought him in front of it. Since it was instead in the corner of his room folded up he guessed Trace and Rascmon where already up. “Somehow I didn’t think he was the type to get up early,” Patamon said as he walked to the foot of the bed then hopped down to the floor to head for the door.

“He probably didn’t sleep,” Takeru told him as he stood up and went to fetch his uniform. After Takeru had changed into it he went to find Trace. He ended up finding the older teen sitting at the table speaking with his mom. Since he was actually speaking to her Takeru figured he had guessed correctly about Trace not sleeping. Patamon was there as well talking to Rascmon. When Takeru joined them Natsuko began to serve breakfast.

“Trace what are going to do until school gets out?” Takeru asked after they had eaten. They had gone back to his room so Takeru could fetch his school bag.

“Dunno haven’t really thought about it,” Trace answered shrugging his shoulders. “I’ll probably go see if Krista needs any help with what she’s doing or spend the day with Lee.” Takeru nodded wondering if he was still going to avoid Luna or if he was actually going to attempt to talk to her. “After your school gets out is it alright if I come back here? I want to talk to you about something…”

Takeru turned to look at Trace as he adjusted the strap on his messenger bag. “Sure that’s fine,” Takeru told him and Trace nodded before standing up and leaving Rascmon following after him.

“I wonder what he wants to talk about,” Patamon said as he flew over to Takeru landing on his shoulder.

“Hopefully about what happened between him and Luna,” Takeru said as he walked towards the door.

Takeru walked with Miyako, Iori, Hawkmon and Armadimon towards the high school talking with the two and their DIgimon. Of course Iori and Armadimon couldn’t go with them the entire way since Iori was still in middle school, but he did go as far as he could with them before the two wen on their way to the middle school. Then Miyako, Takeru and their Digimon meet up with Kohana and Tsumon on the way and when they reached the school they ran into Daisuke and Ken who were talking about their soccer club meeting they had before school their Digimon already off to their normal place and would soon be joined by Hawkmon, Tsumon and Patamon. After everyone had switched to their indoor shoes they walked to their classes Hikari joining up with them in the hallway.

Takeru and Hikari where both surprised at the start of class when, their homeroom teacher walked in followed by a familiar redhead. “Class we have a transfer student joining us today,” the teacher announced while Aiden began to write his name on the chalkboard. He was slow at writing the Kanji for his name showing he wasn’t that used to writing it which Takeru found strange with how fluently he had been speaking Japanese when they had met him. He had actually thought he might have had a Japanese parent like Kohana. Now he was wondering if maybe his parents were from the United State's of America's army base.

“Hello my name is Aiden McTroy please to meet you all,” Aiden introduced himself after he finished writing his name on the board and bowed. Nothing else was really said except the teacher telling Aiden to take one of the empty seats near the back of the classroom then the class really began. By the time lunch came around more than one student in the classroom had become curious about the transfer student. Thus when the bell rang to signify the beginning of the lunch period Aiden found himself in the center of a large group of his classmates.

Hikari, Takeru, Kohana and Ken on the other hand had gathered around Daisuke’s desk. “Isn’t he the boy you ran into yesterday?” Kohana asked Hikari, who, had told her about the encounter while they had played monopoly yesterday.

“Yeah it is. It’s kind of strange to meet him yesterday only to find out today he’s transferred into our class,” Hikari told her.

“I wonder if Patamon and the others happened to run into his Digimon,” Takeru said off-handily. Most likely if they had there was a good chance the small Digimon was looking for Takeru to tell him since there would be no way for Patamon to know that Aiden had transferred into his class.

“I actually thought he was younger than us. Like around Iori’s age or something,” Hikari stated.

“Why’s that?” Ken asked as he turned to look at her.

“I don’t know. I guess it was just the way he had acted,” Hikari answered not entirely sure herself as to why she had thought that.

“Why don’t we go over there and talk to him?” Daisuke asked looking at the others.

“Because right now he’s dealing with most of the class and it would be hard to actually talk to him with them all wanting to ask him questions,” Takeru pointed out. He couldn’t really blame them since it was quite obvious that Aiden wasn’t from Japan. It wasn’t very often that their school had students like that though it wasn’t unheard of occurrence due to the before mentioned base.

“Well we won’t be able to try after school at least Ken I won’t because we have to help Taichi and the others,” Daisuke said.

Takeru had an idea of what Daisuke was trying for so he spoke up, “I can’t either. Trace wants to talk to me about something after school.”

“It’ll probably be best to just wait until Monday then,” Hikari said and the others agreed with her. For now they collected their bento boxes up wand went to join their Digimon for lunch. Surprisingly enough Patamon and Tailmon hadn’t seen Aiden’s two Digimon. After he had finished eating Patamon flew around the school to see if there was a chance they were here, but he didn’t spot them.

“It’s probably because he doesn’t realize they could have come with him,” Ken said as they walked back to class.

“Why wouldn’t he?” Daisuke said glancing at Ken.

“From what I’ve heard it’s actually not common for schools to allow Digimon to come. The one he attended before coming here probably didn’t allow them.”

“I wonder how many of those schools have trouble with Digimon sneaking in.”

“Probably quite a few since Digimon don’t like being separated from their partners very long.”

-X-

After school let out, Takeru walked home accompanied by Hikari and Kohana as well as Miyako since she had to help her parents out today in the store. With how little they had been finding in the Redwood Realm it wasn’t going to interfere with the search as far as the others where concern. When they reached the apartment complex Miyako and Takeru lived in Hikari and Kohana said goodbye since they would be going over to Hikari’s apartment to hang out for awhile. Miyako walked with Takeru as far as her floor then said goodbye as well.

Takeru was a bit surprise to see Trace and Rascmon waiting for him and Patamon outside of his apartment. He had actually expected to have to wait a bit before the other teen had arrived. When Trace noticed Takeru he gently nudged Rascmon who was asleep making both Takeru and Patamon wonder just how long they had been waiting for them. “Anything interesting happen at school?” Trace asked as Takeru walked over to the door to unlock it.

“If you’re asking about if Kitsumon happened to attack no, but we did get a foreign transfer student today,” Takeru said as he unlocked the door and walked inside.

“Kind of strange that someone transferred in at the end of the week. I wonder why they didn’t just wait until Monday,” Trace wondered as he waited until Takeru motioned him to follow before actually entering the apartment.

“Maybe his parents didn’t want to wait?” Patamon suggested as he hopped down onto Rascmon’s back. Rascmon glanced at Patamon before heading into the living room to wait for the two teenagers that had to change their shoes for slippers.

“I guess that’s possible especially if they had to work today,” Trace conceded.

After the two teens had the slippers on they followed after the two Digimon and sat down. Takeru then waited for Trace to say something since it was him that was wanting to talk and it took a bit but the older teen finally spoke, “I never did tell the two of you why I wear these gloves, did I?” He held his hands up so Takeru could see his gloves.

Takeru shook his head. “No I just always figured you wore them because you liked them,” Takeru answered wondering what was special about them. He seemed to remember hearing something about them, but it was a bit hard to recall so he figured it had to have happened when Kitsumon had the two of them captured.

“When I was younger and my parents was still alive I was playing out with some of my cousins and Luna in the realm my family originates from. I know I told you my uncle was the one who held the key before me and because of that most people believed it would be one of his children that would show signs of being the ones who were supposed to be the next owners of the key. My parents only had one key between the two of them and since Luna had already showed she was going to get it they thought that the rest of us wouldn’t have any,” Trace told them.

“But they were wrong since all of you have a key… Unless you have more siblings that I don’t know about,” Takeru said and Trace shook his head.

“No Lee is the youngest of us so you won’t see any more siblings popping up, but it’s actually quite rare what happened. For every child of one key wielder to end up with a key, but granted we don’t have them all since one of our cousins did get one and some of the other families involved with the key’s had kids inherit some,” Trace informed him and Takeru nodded. It made him wonder if any of the other key wielders where going to show up. He hoped not because it was confusing enough as it is.

“Any way the realm we grew up in had troubles of its own that I won’t go into detail about, but we were supposed to stay within the backyard since it was safe or at least it was supposed to be. Somehow something that wasn’t supposed to be able to get in did. The best way to describe it would be a monster kind of like the ones you see in movies or read about in books. My cousin’s spotted it first and took off for the house while Luna and I didn’t realize it was there too caught up in the game we were playing until it was almost on top of us. We ran heading for the house as well, but Luna ended up tripping half way there and I went back for her. The monster got to her first and managed to hurt her pretty badly before my uncle showed up and killed it. My uncle picked Luna up and ran past me intending to take her inside and call for help. The instant he ran past me I saw just how badly she had been injured and I lost it,” Trace explained looking at his hands before looking at Takeru.

“Normally only the palms of my hands can actually do any damage with my ability, but there are times when my emotions affect this and anything near me could be harmed. That’s what happened back then and since no one had expected it to happen no one was prepared to deal with it. I actually ended up hurting my uncle badly which was why I got the key as early as I did. The only reason I didn’t hurt Luna and my cousins as well was because my uncle was able to counteract what I was doing with his own ability. By then my parents who where next door had arrived and my mom used her ability to make these gloves which at the time drained me of what power I had to where I couldn’t really do anything. Later on she was able to modify them to where this only happened if I lost control again and kept accidents from happening as I grew up and learned how to control it.”

“I’m guessing you’re telling me this because something similar happened recently?” Takeru guessed and Trace nodded.

“Up until now Luna had been the only one that was safe around me all the time because of the fact we’re twins and as twins we’re very close to one another. If something big happened that upset me that would cause me to lose control she always managed to help me keep my emotions in check to where I wouldn’t and if she couldn’t she was there to either repair whatever I might have accidentally destroyed or keep me from somehow harming others until the gloves could drain enough power from me to stop me. Until now she was also the only person that has seen me lose control and wasn’t somehow afraid of me,” Trace answered.

“What exactly happened?” Takeru asked noting that both Rascmon and Patamon had left at some point.

“After we left your apartment Luna confronted me about something. It was something that Kitsumon had been using to torment me while he held me captive before he got a hold of you so it was a bit of a sore spot for me. I didn’t want to talk about it and I had hoped she would drop it all together, but she didn’t and kept pushing. I got upset and at that moment when I lost control she realized two things; one that she most likely couldn’t calm me down easily since she was the one who had upset me and two I was now stronger then her because of what happened and she was most likely going to end up hurt because she couldn’t counteract what was going to happen. So she did what everyone else has done when facing me like this. She became scared of me…”

Takeru wasn’t quite sure what to say at this point. He had never seen Trace lose control or what could happen when he did so he couldn’t argue for or against what had happened with Luna. There was one thing that he was sure of though. Luna hadn’t been hurt in the end. “At least you didn’t end up hurting her,” Takeru told him.

Trace smiled though it was a sad one and said, “Only because the idea that I might actually hurt her and the realization she was scared was enough for me to gain control long enough to get away from her. A couple of trees didn’t survive because of it though.”

“So are you avoiding her now because you’re afraid you might hurt or something else?” Takeru asked him.

Trace thought over the question for a moment before he answered Takeru, “I don’t know. If I was afraid of hurting her then I probably would be avoiding everyone even Rascmon so I wouldn’t hurt anyone, but that obviously isn’t happening.”

“Then shouldn’t you try talking to her? I called her yesterday to tell her you where here and she seemed pretty worried about you. Krista seems to be as well since she was the one who suggested letting you stay here since you obviously wanted some time away from Luna,” Takeru told him and Trace just shrugged. Takeru felt like sighing, but didn’t to keep from Trace interpreting wrong. He was frustrated with himself because he had never been good dealing with situations like these and he wanted to help his friend, but he didn’t know how. “My mom told me last night you can stay here for as long as you like but I honestly think the longer you put off talking to her the harder it’s going to be.”

“Thanks, Takeru,” Trace told him and this time Takeru shrugged. Another thank you he wasn’t quite sure why he had gotten it. He’d been getting them a lot lately since this whole thing with Shaitanmon and Kitsumon started.

By the time Takeru had started dinner since his mother was coming home late tonight Trace had decided to stay another night. This resulted in Krista stopping by in order to drop off a duffel bag for Trace. “I talked to Kohana earlier today at Hikari’s,” Krista told Takeru and Trace while Trace dug through the duffel back to see if his sister had forgotten anything.

“About what?” Takeru asked her.

“About what I found out about her getting a crest or not,” Krista told him watching her brother thinking it was amusing that he believed she would forget something after taking care of him so long. Between the two of them he was more likely to forget something in his own packing then for her to do it.

“What did you find out?” Patamon asked from where he sat on Rascmon’s back. The small Digimon was beginning to like riding around on the dog Digimon’s back since his fur was soft. The only problem he had found so far was Rascmon put off a lot of heat. So far Rascmon hadn’t been bothered by him and after what Trace had said about him the small Digimon doubted that he would be.

“I can’t give her one,” Krista told them.

“Why not?” Trace asked as he looked up from the duffel bag at her.

“It’ll do just what you feared it would. It’ll destroy the protection Takeru’s and the others crest added to the Digital World. However I might be able to come up with a different way for Tsumon to be able to evolve and if it works others could use it as well,” Krista told them.

“I hope you can,” Takeru told her causing Krista to smile. “What?”

“Nothing,” Krista told him and Trace chuckled slightly knowing what Krista was thinking. It was almost like a guarantee it could happen now after what Takeru had said.

“Somehow I have a feeling I missed something,” Takeru muttered as he went to check on what he was cooking.

“You did,” Trace called after him as he stood up satisfied with what his sister had packed. She had even remembered something he kept leaving behind lately on accident; his mp3 player. “Just what are you thinking of having Luna make?”

“Well I thought about what you told me and what the others have told me about what Gennai had said not to mention what I already know. Crest and Digivices harness the feelings of the users to help the Digimon evolve. While Digivices use every day feelings the crest use the feelings and attributes the holder of the crest happens to feel, express and believe in better and more clearly than the others. All in all the purpose is to provide power to the Digimon to speed up what they would have at some point have naturally attained,” Krista explained.

“And now that it helped them they can easily do it on their own,” Trace realized since he had seen Patamon and the others evolve to higher forms without the help of the Digivice’s anymore.

“Yes but this is also thanks to the core Qinglongmon gave them since it was used to unlock their evolutions so they would no longer need them unless in an emergency like say Patamon had evolved to Seraphimon the day before and needed to again today,” Krista told him.

“So what are you going to try and make something like Qinglongmon’s core? Or something else entirely?” Patamon asked following the conversation somewhat.

“No nothing like that since it would probably risk causing some damage to the Digital World when it was brought there. I’m going with the second option making something else entirely. Something that’ll connect to the Digivice somehow since that is crucial that’ll somehow unlock Tsumon’s higher stages without causing harm to the Digital World. The problem is figuring out just how to do it,” Krista told him and Patamon slowly nodded not quite sure he understood what she meant.

“Good luck with it Kris since from what I can see you are aiming for an impossible goal,” Trace told her.

Krista rolled her eyes at Trace’s comment. “Yeah well achieving the impossible seems to happen a lot when you hang out with these kids,” Krista commented while pointing in the direction Takeru had gone.

“Good point,” Trace conceded.

Krista took a few steps towards her brother and ruffled his hair a bit until he pushed her hand away. “I still can’t believe you cut it off like this. You use to fight us all the time to keep it long,” Krista said smiling a bit at him.

“Yeah well things change,” Trace mumbled and Krista nodded in agreement but the smile disappeared.

“Try not to cause too much trouble for him Trace. Both him and Patamon are trying their best to help you even though they probably can’t really understand what has happened between you and Luna,” Krista told him and he nodded.

“So she told you?”

“Nope she refused to tell me what had happened, but it isn’t too hard to figure out. Any way I better go now,” Krista told him as she headed for the door. Wizarmon hadn’t followed her inside, but had waited for her outside by the door.

“Thanks for dropping this off Krista,” Trace told her pointing to the duffel bag.

“No problem Trace,” Krista said then left.

-X-

The next morning Takeru found out just what Luna had meant when she had warned him Trace would probably act distant upon waking up. He had actually been a bit surprised to wake up and see that the older teen was actually asleep with Rascmon lying next to him. Both he and Patamon had left the room as quietly as they could so not to wake them. About an hour later had Rascmon walking out of the room followed by Trace, who was obviously still half asleep. Takeru had gotten the two of them something to eat and while Rascmon had thanked him and even started a conversation with Takeru and Patamon, Trace remained silent while he ate.

“Did Luna happen to warn you about this?” Rascmon asked Takeru as he and Patamon washed dishes.

“Yeah she did though I didn’t actually think he’d come out of the room until he was sure he was really awake,” Takeru told Rascmon as he glanced at Trace who was still sitting at the table and obviously trying not to fall back asleep. His headphones where rested around his neck and his Mp3 player was set on the table.

“It seems to take longer if he avoids everyone entirely from what I’ve been able to tell,” Rascmon told him as he also glanced over at Trace.

“I didn’t think it would be so hard for him to wake up with how little he does sleep,” Patamon commented as he put a dish back up in the cabinet.

“The more screwed up your sleep schedule is the harder it is to wake the fuck up when you want to,” Trace said causing both Takeru and Patamon to look at him. They didn’t realize he could hear them.

“He’s still adjusting,” Rascmon informed them. “It’s obvious because of the cursing. Since you two are his friends the only time he’d curse around you is if he was cursing someone out or in instances like this.” Trace mumbled something in remarks to what Rascmon had said, but Takeru was unable to hear him. It was obvious Patamon was trying to pretend he hadn’t and Rascmon just shook his head slowly. “Trace if you don’t keep your mouth shut until your fully awake I am going to prove this is the waking world and I promise you, you won’t be happy by how I do it,” Rascmon threatened growling slightly at Trace. After that Takeru decided he didn’t want to know just what Trace had said.

Trace seemed to have decided it was a good idea to keep his mouth shut after Rascmon’s threat because Takeru didn’t hear anything from him for half an hour and when he did speak there was no cursing involved. “Sorry Takeru, normally I don’t sleep when I’m at someone else’s house, but I kind of passed out last night after the lights went off,” Trace apologized as Takeru sat down at the table.

“Don’t worry though I am kind of shocked Rascmon actually threatened you,” Takeru said looking at the dog Digimon.

Trace shrugged not really caring that Rascmon had and said, “He’d only actually carry out on his threat if he thought he really had to.” Trace looked at the dog Digimon as well and patted him on the head.

“Do I want to know just why he’d have to carry out a threat?” Takeru asked and Trace shook his head. “Thought so, any way I got a call from Lee while you and Rascmon where still asleep. He wants to go hang out at the arcade with us since your sisters went to help Taichi and the others find where exactly Kitsumon was trying to take us before we managed to escape. From what I can tell he’s a bit upset that they didn’t let him come along to help.”

“It’s fine with me are Hikari and Kohana going to come with us?” Trace asked as he stood up to go change into everyday cloths since he was still in his pajama’s unlike Takeru who had changed in the half hour Trace had been quiet.

“Yep since I’ll get chewed out if I go anywhere without someone else that has a Digimon that can evolved to Ultimate,” Takeru told him as he texted Hikari.

“Can’t be too bad since you get to spend all this time with Kohana,” Trace said off offhandedly as he walked towards Takeru’s room.

Takeru groaned a slight pink tint to his cheeks, “I get enough of those type of comments from my brother don’t you start up as well!”

“But that won’t be any fun!”

“Yeah well I know the reason why you keep going to this certain arcade so watch it!”

That caused Trace to open the door up as he finished pulling his t-shirt on. “I am going to teach Lee what it means when I tell him to keep his mouth shut!” Trace growled as he stuffed his wallet into his back pocket.

Takeru, on the other hand, grinned. “Not so fun when you’re the one being teased is it?” Takeru asked and Trace just ignored him.

“So we’re waiting for Hikari and Kohana to show up I take it?” Trace asked changing the subject.

“Yep it might take them a bit since I just texted Hikari,” Takeru answered.

When Hikari and Kohana arrived Takeru and Trace quickly pulled their shoes on while Rascmon and Patamon walked out to join them. Once the two teens where done they began walking towards the hotel in order to pick up Lee, who was waiting from them outside with Bearmon. Once the younger teen had joined their group they made their way to the arcade.

“Did Krista give you an allowance yet?” Trace asked Lee who was starring at what was inside one of the crane machines.

“Yep!” Lee happily declared as he pulled out his wallet then pulled some money out of it. With that in hand he began glancing around at the different crane machines.

“He seems to really like crane machines,” Hikari commented as she watched him.

“Yeah well it didn’t take him very long to figure out that our sisters are suckers for what you can win from them,” Trace told her as he kept an eye on his brother. “It doesn’t hurt that girls his age also happen to like them.”

“So he’s going to be a heart breaker huh?” Hikari asked watching as Lee attempted to win a small plushie out of the crane machine.

“I hope not ,” Trace said as he pulled his wallet out to take some money out. “So Tsumon wanna try a racing game?” Trace asked the angelic Digimon.

“Sure!” Tsumon said before running off towards the racing games Trace and Rascmon following.

“Takeru I want to play a fighting game,” Patamon told him hopping off Takeru’s head onto his shoulder.

“Alright,” Takeru said as he walked towards them.

“I bet I could beat you,” Tailmon challenged as she walked to the machine on the other side of the one Takeru had sat at since Patamon needed to stand on Takeru’s lap to actually be able to play. The cat Digimon had an advantage to him on that since she only had to stand on the seat. As for Kohana she stood behind Takeru so she could watch.

“Can you even play with those claws of yours?” Patamon asked.

“Yes I can,” Tailmon told him as she got money from Hikari to pay.

“Alright then,” Patamon said as Takeru put the money into the game for him. The small Digimon selected a random fighter since he didn’t really play these types of games much which is why he wanted to try it out. As for Tailmon, she picked a magical girl type wanting to play a female character.

Takeru glanced over to where Lee was at noticing the boy had a couple of girls his age watching him play one of them holding the plushie Lee must have won. Takeru shook his head slightly as he turned to watch Patamon and Tailmon’s game. It was pretty obvious neither one of them where really used to playing this type of game, but for the moment Patamon was in the lead. “I thought you were going to beat me,” Patamon teased the cat Digimon.

“It isn’t over yet!” Tailmon reminded him. At that moment she managed to get lucky with the button mashing she was doing and the magical girl character she was playing unleashed its finisher move which as the name would suggest KO’ed Patamon’s character. “Ha! Told you so!” Tailmon cheered.

“How did you do that?” Patamon questioned hopping on top of the machine so he could look at her.

“Don’t know just got lucky,” she told him grinning.

“One more time!” Patamon said jumping back down into Takeru’s lap. “Please?” he added looking up at the blonde teen.

Takeru smiled as he added more money to the machine. “Alright just try not to get beaten this time,” he told him.

“Hikari?” Tailmon asked looking at her. Hikari stepped forward to put more money in for her.

“There you go,” she told her. The two Digimon then selected the same fighters they had been using before.

“So who won?” Takeru heard Kohana ask and he looked over his shoulder as Trace, Rascmon and Tsumon came back.

“He did,” Tsumon said pointing to Trace.

“I am so glad Digimon can’t get licenses,” Trace said causing the angelic Digimon to stick his tongue out at him.

“That bad huh?” Kohana asked smiling slightly.

“I manage to lap him,” Trace told her then he glanced over towards his brother. “I’m going to go check up on Lee,” he told them as he went to join his little brother at the crane machines.

“Takeru look I won!” Patamon cheered and Takeru looked back at the game.

“Yep you did,” Takeru said then patted the small Digimon on the head. Since Patamon didn’t seem to want to play another game Takeru stood up and glanced around the arcade wondering what to play next.

They continued to play various games for a few hours. It was soon proven between the two brothers Trace was the better at the crane machine as Lee only managed to get the one prize he had given to the girl while Trace had managed to win five all together so the three middle school girls that had been watching Lee each got two in the end. Takeru also tried out the crane machines since he hadn’t played them since he was in middle school. Unlike the two brothers Takeru didn’t manage to win anything which Tsumon found funny even more so when he won a plush Kohana had thought was cute. They had decided to go and get something to eat around noon. As they were walking Trace stopped looking up at the sky.

“Something’s wrong,” Trace commented causing the others to look at him.

“What do you mean?” Takeru questioned as he walked back over to him and looked up in the same general direction as Trace. It didn’t take him long to spot what had Trace worried. It was Omegamon, or at least it appeared to look like Omegamon, but this one was pure black except his red eyes, a red gem below the chest armor and the crests markings. The black Omegamon aimed the Gururu Cannon at Takeru and Trace firing off a shot.

“Shit!” Trace shouted as Patamon jumped off Takeru’s shoulder evolving into Seraphimon to block the attack. Rascmon also evolved to Kusarimon when he noticed Seraphimon being pushed back by the attack and stood behind the angelic Digimon in attempt to help Seraphimon. Takeru could tell it wasn’t working so he quickly got out from behind the two Digimon pulling Trace with him just as they were sent flying.

The combined efforts of Ofanimon, Gryzmon, and En’zakamon kept the two Digimon from crashing into anything. “He’s stronger then our Omegamon,” Seraphimon warned both his arms frozen from the attack.

“Of course he is! He’s been exposed to Black Digitron,” Takeru heard someone shout and he turned to look at who it was. There, standing a few yards away from them was Aiden the hood of his sleeveless sweater pulled up and he was grinning. In each hand was what Takeru assumed where Digivices, but they didn’t look like any he had seen before. They where rectangle in shape with a small screen in the center of them and buttons on both sides of the screens with a wire coming from the top of each one of them connected to an armlet that was on the arm that was holding the respective Digivice. One of the Digivice’s was red while the other was blue and the armlets they were hooked to where black.

“Aiden! Why did you attack us?” Hikari shouted stepping out from behind Ofanimon. At the moment Kusarimon was attempting to melt the ice off Seraphimon’s arms, but was failing.

“Take a guess,” he sneered as the black Omegamon flew at the group of Digimon with his Grey Sword extended. The group of Digimon scattered in order to avoid the attack and so the black Omegamon turned his focus on Ofanimon slashing his sword at her. The angelic Digimon blocked with her javelin, but as soon as the Grey Sword touched it the javelin vanished causing Ofanimon to retreat from him quickly.

“How?” Ofanimon questioned looking at her hands.

“Simple,” was the only thing the black Omegamon said before trying to attack her.

“Ascension Hallow!” Seraphimon shouted sending several bolts of lightning at the black Omegamon since this was about the only attack he could use with his arms frozen like they were. Aiden’s two Digivice’s flashed and in a flash of light the black Omegamon devolved to Black War Greymon and Black Metal Garurumon effectively avoiding Seraphimon’s attack to where Ofanimon ended up having to dodge it to avoid being hit by it.

“By the way his name is Omegamon Zwart when they’re Jogress evolved,” Aiden said grinning.

“Cocytus Breath!” Black Metal Garurumon shouted firing off an icy attack at Seraphimon attempting to freeze him further.

“Dark Gaia Force!” Black War Greymon shouted throwing the large orb at Ofanimon. The two angelic Digimon dodged the attack.

“You two obviously know him so who the heck is he?” Trace asked Takeru as he watched the fight.

“Remember that transfer student I told you about?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s him,” Takeru answered glancing over at Aiden.

“Damn why the hell is he attacking us…” Trace wondered.

“I can take a guess,” Takeru said the tone of voice he used made Trace look at him and it wasn’t hard to see Takeru was mad. “Seraphimon try using Excalibur maybe it’ll free up one of your arms!” Takeru shouted up at his Digimon as he dodged another attack from Black Metal Garurumon.

“Alright, Excalibur!” Seraphimon shouted the energy sword extending from his right arm. It managed to shatter the ice that was covering his hand and lower arm, but the ice that had formed above Excalibur remained. Seraphimon flew at Black Metal Garurumon swinging the holy sword at the Digimon.

“Sefirot Crystal!” Ofanimon shouted attacking Black War Greymon at the same time Seraphimon was attacking. The two Digimon dodged ending up back to back.

Aiden’s Digivices flashed again and the two Digimon Jogress evolved to Omegamon Zwart. “Double Torrent!” Omegamon Zwart shouted sending a blast of flames at Ofanimon with the Black War Greymon head and an icy torrent at Seraphimon with the Black Metal Garurumon head. The sudden evolution and attack from Omegamon Zwart took the two Digimon by surprise, but they managed to dodge the attacks for the most parts only being partially clipped by them which meant more ice on Seraphimon’s part having some of his wings partially frozen while Ofanimon’s were singed.

“He’s slower than our Omegamon,” Ofanimon said and flew at the Holy Knight Digimon. “Sefirot Crystal!” she shouted firing the attack at him. Omegamon Zwart dodged it only to run into Seraphimon who slashed at him with Excalibur. Omegamon Zwart couldn’t dodge so instead he blocked the attack with his arms. Seraphimon pulled back after his attack hit and from what he could see it hadn’t caused a whole lot of damage to the knight.

“He has a higher defense though,” Seraphimon said and flew at the Holy Knight Digimon ignoring the added weight of the ice. “Excalibur!” he shouted slashing at him. Omegamon Zwart dodged it only to attack himself, but not Seraphimon.

“Double Torrent!” Omegamon Zwart shouted firing both fire and ice attacks at Ofanimon sending the angelic Digimon flying. He flew after her and before she could recover from the attack he attacked again. “Grey Sword!” he shouted slashing Ofanimon with the sword. This caused her to devolve down to Nyaromon.

“No!” Hikari shouted.

“Seraphimon stop him now!” Takeru shouted afraid of what was about to happen to the small cat Digimon.

“Excalibur!” Seraphimon shouted as he flew at Omegamon Zwart’s back in an attempt to attack him. Once again Aiden’s Digivices flashed causing Omegamon Zwart to devolve back down to Black War Greymon and Black Metal Garurumon again. Black War Greymon quickly grabbed hold of Nyaromon and kicked Seraphimon away.

“Oi Black War Greymon you damn well better hand that Digimon over to Hikari now!” Trace shouted causing everyone to turn and look at him. Trace pointed over his shoulder to Aiden who was down on one knee his face pale and breathing heavily and behind him stood Kusarimon. “Your damn partner can’t handle anymore of your fucking tricks and Kusarimon would be more than happy to add further persuasion.”

“You wouldn’t hurt him!” Black War Greymon shouted eyes narrowing.

“Black War Greymon,” Black Metal Garurumon warned turning to look at the other Digimon.

“Just fucking try me,” Trace said a dangerous tone in his voice as he motioned towards Kusarimon. The fiery dog Digimon opened his mouth and began moving to bite Aiden his sharp teeth more than enough to cause serious harm.

“Stop! Black War Greymon give the cat Digimon back now!” Black Metal Garurumon shouted at him.

“She wasn’t in any danger in the first place…” Black War Greymon told his partner.

“I know, but in this type of situation they’re not going to believe us so give her back before Aiden gets hurt.”

“Alright but you keep an eye on the fiery mutt,” Black War Greymon told his friend who nodded as Black War Greymon flew down and landed.

Hikari started to run towards him, but En’zakamon stopped her. “Wait let me go just in case,” he told her and walked over to him. Black War Greymon slowly opened his hands revealing Nyaromon. En’zakamon took the small Digimon from him and ran over to Hikari handing her Nyaromon.

Black Metal Garurumon landed next to Aiden. “Move,” he told Kusarimon who took a few steps back. “Aiden I’m sorry we didn’t-“ Black Metal Garurumon began only to have Aiden interrupt him.

“Don’t it’s not your fault I shouldn’t have revealed myself like I did,” Aiden told him then climbed onto his Digimon’s back.

Black War Greymon flew towards them but paused in front of Seraphimon. “Dramon Killer!” he shouted slashing at the angelic Digimon. Seraphimon blocked the attack with his arms, but was a bit shocked when the attack didn’t cause him any harm. Instead it just shattered the ice and Black War Greymon quickly followed after Black Metal Garurumon who was already flying off.

 _Why did he do that?_ Takeru wondered then turned to look when Hikari ran over to them cradling her Digimon in her arms.

“Thank you Tr-“ Hikari began but Trace turned glaring at her for a moment before looking away.

“Don’t… Doing something like that doesn’t deserve thanks,” Trace told her as he walked over to Kusarimon as he devolved to Rascmon. Trace’s comment made Takeru think back to when he had thanked Trace for helping them beat Shaitanmon because the older teen hadn’t been to happy being thanked then either.

“How is she?” Kohana asked when she joined Takeru and Hikari.

“She’s fine for the most part, but she won’t be able to evolve for a few days,” Hikari told her as she looked at Nyaromon. The three looked upwards as Seraphimon began flying down to them devolving to Patamon on the way. Takeru could spot a few burns on Patamon’s arms from the ice as well as some on his back. The small Digimon landed on Takeru’s shoulder and Takeru walked towards Trace.

“Takeru if Black War Greymon hadn’t grabbed Nyaromon and kicked me away like he had I would have hit her,” Patamon told him sadness marring his voice.

“Don’t blame yourself Patamon if I hadn’t panicked and told you to attack… Never mind let’s just remember this for when we fight him again,” Takeru told him.

“So you think he’s going to attack us again?” Patamon asked.

“Yes,” Takeru said as he reached Trace. The older teen was petting the dog Digimon on the head and was whispering something in his ear. “You alright?” Takeru asked as he stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“I’m fine,” Trace snapped then closed his eyes remembering what Krista had told him and sighed then more calmly said, “I’m fine…”

“You know Kusarimon wouldn’t have gone through with it Trace,” Takeru told him looking at the dog Digimon who was starring at the ground. It was obvious he did not like what Trace had him do, but he had done it any ways.

“Yeah well that doesn’t mean I didn’t _want_ him to do it!” Trace said turning his back to Takeru.

“Well at that moment you weren’t the only one that wanted to hurt him,” Takeru confessed and Trace turned to look at him. “Remember I’m the one out of all of us who knows what it means to lose a Digimon and I would do a lot of things to keep my friends from experiencing the same thing I did… And it doesn’t matter if you wanted him to or not. You had Rascmon hold him hostage like that _because_ you knew he wouldn’t do anything. I mean if what I suspect to be true those Digimon would have known your ability and you could have just as easily threatened them with that instead, but you didn’t because you knew you could trust Rascmon not to do something more than yourself at that moment.”

Trace sighed, “I really don’t get you Takeru… Why the hell are you trying so hard to help me?”

“Because the way your acting kind of reminds me of how someone else behaved when I was younger and because I was too young to realize what was happening I couldn’t help them. I was just lucky someone else could before they fell too far and right now since your pushing everyone else away so I’m the only one that can help you,” Takeru told him. Trace looked away from him down at Rascmon.

“I just really hope you don’t regret this later,” Trace told him before he walked over to his brother who Bearmon had kept from approaching him while Takeru was talking to him. Rascmon looked at Takeru then followed after Trace.

 _Regret?_ Takeru wondered glancing at Trace for a moment before going to join Kohana and Hikari.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N – So far this is like one of my favorite chapters to write :3 I don’t know why really it just is. If you can’t figure out why Trace and Krista where laughing at what Takeru had said they just found it funny that he had said hope right after they had been talking about crests. As for the person Takeru was referring to it’s obviously Yamato and how Taichi as well as others helped him. Much like Gabumon, Rascmon is kind of clueless on how to help him so is Takeru really, but he’s willing to give it a shot.
> 
> As for the one thing of people neither understanding nor wanting to be thanked seems to be common in this story. Takeru doesn’t feel thanks are necessary because he does what he does because he cares for his friends. As for Trace he doesn’t think he deserves thanks for the things he does because they seem like evil deeds to him not good ones despite the results he gets. So I decided to title the chapter what I did because of this.


	11. Chapter Eleven Time to Say Good Bye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copy righted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it’s Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copy right for it.

_Trace sighed, “I really don’t get you Takeru… Why the hell are you trying so hard to help me?”_

“ _Because the way your acting kind of reminds me of how someone else behaved when I was younger and because I was too young to realize what was happening I couldn’t help them. I was just lucky someone else could before they fell too far and right now since your pushing everyone else away I’m the only one that can help you,” Takeru told him. Trace looked away from him down at Rascmon._

“ _I just really hope you don’t regret this later,” Trace told him before he walked over to his brother who Bearmon had kept from approaching him while Takeru was talking to him. Rascmon looked at Takeru then followed after Trace._

Regret? _Takeru wondered glancing at Trace for a moment before going to join Kohana and Hikari._

After what had happened the small group decided it would be best to get off the streets since they now only had one Digimon with them that could evolve to Ultimate. Takeru also wanted to treat Patamon’s injuries even though the small Digimon had told them they didn’t really hurt all the much. They decided it would probably be best to head back to Takeru’s apartment and despite his protests they dropped Lee off at the hotel since they couldn’t say for certain if they could actually keep him safe if Kitsumon did happen to attack them now. By then Natsuko was back from visiting her friend so she made everyone something to eat while Takeru attended to Patamon’s wounds as well as what little wounds Nyaromon had.

“It’s strange that you don’t really have any wounds,” Takeru commented as he placed a bandage on Nyaromon’s cheek.

“Except for the double torrent attacks he used on me I didn’t really get hurt all that much,” she told Takeru as both him and Hikari looked her over carefully to make sure they hadn’t missed any injuries.

“But he slashed you with his Grey Sword…” Hikari pointed out.

“Twice if you count what happened to my javelin, but it didn’t hurt when he hit me and I devolved,” Nyaromon said.

“I wonder if it has anything to do with the Digi-code on his sword? Omegamon’s Grey Sword reads All Delete while Omegamon Zwarts reads Termination,” Patamon told them.

“To me with it reading Termination it should hurt since to terminate something means to bring to an end. While All Delete would mean to remove everything or erase everything,” Kohana said glancing at them from where she sat on the couch.

“When you put it that way though couldn’t he have just brought her evolution to an end?” Trace asked. He was sitting on the floor his back against Rascmon side who was sound asleep.

“Then wouldn’t I have just gone back to Tailmon?” Nyaromon questioned looking at him.

Trace shrugged. “I’m just guessing here but if you think about it maybe he did enough damage to you earlier when he hit you with both attacks from the double torrent to where you couldn’t just devolve down to Tailmon. I mean look how much trouble the ice attack gave Patamon when he was hit with it alone,” Trace pointed out causing the small Digimon to look at his hands.

“Maybe,” Nyaromon conceded.

“Whatever the reason its obvious just having Nyaromon and me here isn’t going to cut it. Daisuke and Ken are going to have to stay back and help us since we already know Omegamon Zwart is stronger than Omegamon,” Hikari told them.

“I wonder if we’ll find out know which one of our evolutions is stronger now,” Patamon joked though he didn’t think it was all that funny. He would have been happy if they never had to figure it out.

“I doubt we will it’s already been proven that the best way to handle him is in groups. That is if we can manage to stop him from running,” Tsumon said as Takeru stood up to go and put the rest of the bandages up. Kohana picked up the rest of it for him and began to follow after him. Then suddenly he felt an intense pain from his head and a wave of dizziness as he shut his eyes tightly because of the pain.

When he opened them again he was a bit surprised when he realized he was face to face with a very concerned Kohana especially since he was taller than her. It took him a moment to figure out that she was the only thing that was currently preventing him from falling since he was heavily leaning into her hands that where on his shoulders explaining just why he was face to face with her. “Takeru-kun are you alright?” she asked him.

He was about to answer yes since the pain had gone away but another wave of it hit him causing him to wince. “No,” he choked out. His knees were about to give out on him and he was afraid he might accidentally hurt Kohana when Trace walked up and slung one of Takeru’s arms over his shoulder effectively keeping him upright.

“Hikari go open a Digi-portal,” Trace told her and she quickly nodded running into Takeru’s room.

“Trace what’s going on?” Takeru heard his mother ask from somewhere behind him.

“I promise I’ll explain when we come back. Kohana help me get him to his laptop,” Trace said and Kohana moved to the other side of Takeru doing the same thing Trace had done. It was probably a good thing that she had because when the next wave of pang hit him Takeru blacked out.

 

When Takeru came around again the first thing he realized was he was holding someone’s hand pretty tightly so he forced his hand to relax somewhat since the tight grip probably was hurting them. “Takeru-kun are you awake?” he heard Kohana asked. Takeru opened his eyes noticing that while he was sitting up he was leaning against her with his head on her shoulder.

“Yeah I’m awake,” Takeru told her not moving for the moment since his head hurt so much. He could see Tsumon standing a few feet away from them keeping an eye out with Patamon on top of his head. They were in some type of forest somewhere in the Digital World. Hikari and Trace, however, he couldn’t see the same with their two Digimon. “Where are Trace and Hikari?” Takeru asked.

“Since Trace-kun seemed to know what was going on Hikari-chan dragged him off to get answers out of him. They’re not too far since I can see light from Rascmon’s flames,” she said pointing towards a strangely lighted area.

“I didn’t know his flames produced light at least they didn’t from what I’ve seen,” Takeru mumbled suddenly feeling tired.

“I think he’s doing it so I’ll know where they’re at,” Kohana told her voice dropping in volume since she realized he was probably going to fall asleep again.

“I’m sorry, Kohana,” Takeru mumbled as he closed his eyes. Whatever her response might have been he didn’t hear it because he fell asleep.

The next time he awoke there was a new surprise waiting for him. They must have been here for awhile now because both Taichi and Yamato where there with their Digimon. Hikari, Trace, and Taichi where talking in whispers while Yamato was sitting close to him and Kohana. Gabumon was sitting beside him with Rascmon laying down near him. As for Patamon the small Digimon was leaning back against Rascmon sound asleep. When Yamato saw that his brother was awake he placed a finger on his mouth and pointed to Kohana. It was then Takeru realized that Kohana was also leaning against him now and with what his brother had done he was guessing she was asleep. He also noted that his brother was holding Hikari’s digital camera.

 _Great,_ Takeru thought as he slowly moved in an attempt to keep from waking the sleeping girl. He managed to sit up straight without waking her, but she did shift in her sleep to where her head was now on his shoulder.

Yamato stood and walked over to him sitting down beside Takeru. “How do you feel?” he whispered.

“Better though my head still hurts slightly,” Takeru whispered back looking at his brother. “Just what time is it?”

Yamato pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and checked the time on it. “Almost midnight,” he answered keeping his voice low. “Hikari already had Miyako call Haru-chan’s parents so you don’t have to worry about that.” Takeru nodded as he glanced at the group still talking.

“Their talking about what happened earlier today since Trace has already filled us in on what was going on with you,” Yamato answered his unspoken question. “Mind telling me when exactly you were going to tell us what was going on?”

“I was trying to figure out just how I was going to explain it. I didn’t think this would happen so soon,” Takeru told him a slightly annoyed look on his face. Before he could get to upset with his brother, Yamato reached up and ruffled his hair.

“Don’t worry I’m not mad that you didn’t tell me. It just wasn’t nice coming back to the voicemail our mother left on my cell phone. One of the reasons we’re here was so Trace could go back and explain everything would be alright,” Yamato told him.

“Any chance you’re not going to use those photo’s you taken to tease me?” Takeru asked changing the subject.

“Actually I took them because I thought the two of you might actually want them,” Yamato told him, but Takeru wasn’t too sure if he believed him or not. “You do realize you’re still holding her hand right?”

“Yes I know.”

“Well if you want you can go ahead and go back to sleep since I have a feeling we’ll be staying here all night since we have no idea just how long you have to stay here,” Yamato told him. He was of course still tired, but he wasn’t too keen on the idea of sleeping since he was technically losing the only defense he ever had from Kitsumon’s nightmares. “Just sleep Takeru if it seems something isn’t right I’ll wake you up,” Yamato promised.

“What’s to guarantee you won’t fall asleep?” Takeru asked as he shifted slightly to where he was now leaning against his older brother.

“I won’t and even if I do there is one person in this group who we know won’t sleep,” Yamato reminded him as he gestured over to where the three where still talking. Takeru closed his eyes, but unlike last time it took him awhile before he actually fell asleep.

He saw Calilimon standing in nothing but whiteness a grin on her face. “Thank you Takeru for everything and I am sorry,” she told him as she began to fade. He was about to reach for her but stopped himself and smiled sadly.

“Good bye Calilimon and thank you…”

When he awoke this time it was easy to tell it was morning with how bright it was. Almost everyone was asleep now except of course Trace, who was laying on the ground starring up at the sky, and since his brother was playing games on his cell phone he wasn’t either. Hikari had decided to copy what Patamon had done and used the dog Digimon as a convenient pillow, not that Rascmon would mind any way. As for Taichi he was leaning with his back against a tree and Agumon right next to him. While Gabumon was on the other side of Yamato asleep and Tsumon was leaning up against Kohana asleep.

“How’s your head feeling?” Yamato asked as he closed his cell phone once he realized his brother was awake.

“It doesn’t hurt anymore,” Takeru told him.

“I’m going to guess that means is safe for you to leave here now,” Yamato told him pocketing his cell phone. He gently shook Gabumon awake and once both Takeru and Gabumon weren’t leaning against him he went to go wake Taichi up.

Takeru turned to look at Kohana wondering just how to go about waking her up. Thankfully he got lucky since Tsumon woke up and upon seeing Yamato waking up Taichi the angelic Digimon turned to his human partner and gently shook her shoulder. “Kohana~” he called.

Kohana slowly opened her eyes looking at Tsumon for a moment confused before she remembered exactly what was going on. Then she realized she was leaning against Takeru and quickly sat up her cheeks slightly pink. “Are you alright now, Takeru-kun?” she asked letting go of his hand so she could turn and face him easier.

“Yes,” Takeru told her as he stood up and stretched. He found it kind of funny there was a part of him that wished Tsumon hadn’t woke her up. He helped her stand up and she pulled the band that kept her hair up in a ponytail out rubbing the back of her head where it had been.

“It hurts to keep it up that long,” she explained when she noticed Takeru was watching her and he nodded.

By then Yamato had manage to wake Taichi up so he was now waking his sister up. After she had sat up Rascmon turned to nudge Patamon awake with his noise. Trace stood up brushing his clothes off then turned to look at Yamato. “Are you guys going to the Redwood realm again today?”

“Yeah we’re trying to find just where he was planning to take you guys,” Yamato answered.

“Since we didn’t have any luck yesterday,” Taichi added.

“Good luck with that,” Trace told them as they all began walking towards the portal they used to get here. “You guys are studying today right?” Trace asked glancing over his shoulder at the three younger teens.

“Right we have a test tomorrow,” Hikari told him as she was looking at the display on her digital camera looking at the photo’s on it. Takeru glanced over her shoulder noting there were also a couple that had been taken after Yamato had sat beside him so Hikari must have retrieved her camera after he had fallen asleep and taken them then.

Once they had reached the portal Hikari opened it up and they all went through it ending up at Yamato’s apartment instead of Takeru’s like Takeru had expected. It was probably better any ways since Yamato’s computer was set up in his living room making more room for them. “Why did we end up here?” Takeru asked turning to look at his brother.

“It’s because Taichi and I went to where you from here and even when I had Trace come back he came back here and went to explain what was going on to our mother,” Yamato answered as he closed the gate down on his computer.

“Takeru, Kohana and I are going to go back to our apartments. We’ll go over to your apartment in a couple of hours alright?” Hikari told him as Kohana was keeping Tsumon from picking up one of Yamato’s guitars that he had left out.

“Alright,” Takeru told her and Hikari helped Kohana drag Tsumon out of the apartment.

“I swear that Digimon is ADD,” Yamato said shaking his head.

Yamato and Taichi walked back with Takeru and Trace with their Digimon. When they reached the apartment Yamato and Taichi went in with them Natsuko meeting them at the door. “Takeru are you alright?” she asked looking at her youngest son.

“Yeah I’m fine now,” he told her as he walked over to her. Despite what he said it didn’t prevent his mother looking over him just to make sure he was alright.

“Where are Hikari and Kohana-chan?” she asked noting they weren’t with them.

“They went home. Kohana-chan’s parents are probably worried about her and Hikari had to get her school notes for their study session their having today,” Taichi answered her.

“Well come on I’ll make you all something to eat,” she told them motioning them to come inside. They did as they were told. Takeru and Yamato followed their mother into the kitchen to help her while Taichi and Trace settled in the living room. After they had eaten Taichi and Yamato left to go meet up with Luna and the others. Since he now had a bit of time before the others where to show up he changed his cloths then checked on Patamon’s hands and ear. While he was doing this Trace and Rascmon sat in the living room trying to stay out of the way while they talked to each other.

Ken was the first one to show up which didn’t really surprise Takeru that much. “I’m actually kind of surprised Daisuke isn’t with you,” Takeru told him as they walked towards his room.

“I texted him a few times, but I have a feeling he’s sleeping,” Ken informed him.

“Why am I not surprised,” Takeru said shaking his head. Daisuke loved to sleep in when he could and thanks to not having to meet up with Luna and the others he got the perfect chance to do so.

“What are you guys studying any way?” Trace asked as they walked past.

“History,” Ken answered stopping.

“Heh, I was figuring if it was math or something I could try and help you guys, but not if it’s history,” Trace told him.

“Lee told us your home schooled so do you guys have to learn history?” Takeru asked.

“Yeah we do except it’s mainly focused on what we do. For example I get to learn about the people who held the nightmare key before me while the others learn about the ones they hold. We also learn about the history of where we live, but most of the schooling we have is so we can fit in when we come to places like this,” Trace told them. “In fact, Krista actually has some of the text books in the duffel bag if you ever want to look at them, but just don’t tell Krista if you do I’ll get in trouble.”

“Why would you get in trouble?” Patamon asked wondering why he would even offer to let them read it if it would get him in trouble.

“It’s because she’s written them,” Trace said grinning. “Well the newer stuff any way the older stuff is written by whoever held her key before her, but she isn’t very confident in her writing skills.” Rascmon shook his head knowing Trace was in a pretty good mood since he was back to being his mischievous self.

“No thanks I don’t want your realms history somehow popping up when I need an answer for one of the questions,” Takeru told him.

“Heh, you’d defiantly get an interesting note from your teacher if you did,” Trace said agreeing with him.

The two teens continued on their way to Takeru’s room and waited for the others to show up. Kohana was the next one who arrived with Tsumon followed shortly by Hikari and Nyaromon. Since Tsumon would be counterproductive to their studying the Digimon decided it would be best to hang out in the living room with Trace and Rascmon. They were about an hour into studying when Daisuke finally showed up with V-mon who joined the rest of the Digimon in the living room.

“How come you started without me?” Daisuke asked as he sat in between Takeru and Ken.

“Your phone is off isn’t it?” Hikari asked her eyes slightly narrowed. Daisuke blinked and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket turning it on. Instantly the phone alerted him to a few dozen texts and voicemails.

“Ehhh, sorry I went to the movies with my girlfriend last night. I must have forgotten to turn it back on once it was over,” Daisuke apologized rubbing the back of his head. He quickly pocketed his phone and got his books out. “I don’t see why we have to study any ways couldn’t we do something else?”

“No some of us do actually care about our grades,” Ken told him and Daisuke sighed miserably.”Oh come on Daisuke it isn’t like we don’t always do something after we study.”

“Yeah, but studying has to be done first,” Daisuke said as he pulled out his books from his bags.

The funny thing even with all his complaining beforehand once he got started he was pretty into it. At least with history the teens had long ago decided that studying for math tests with Daisuke was impossible since it was almost always non-stop complaining from him even the few times Taichi or Yamato had been helping them with it. Despite this Daisuke managed to have a passing grade in math which always shocked them when they talked about the grades they got.

::Redwood Realm::

“Are you positive we’re in the right area?” Yamato asked looking back over his shoulder at Luna. The girl had finally gave up wearing the skirts she had favored and had switched to wearing jean pants and hiking boots.

“Yes I am! Where we arrived at was the same exact place we ran into Kitsumon at or did you miss the large damaged area caused by the fight with him?” Luna asked back. For the past few days she hadn’t been in a good mood and the others ignored it for the most part since they had no idea what had upset her in the first place. They had split into three groups: Lexi, Sora, and Miyako in one group, then Krista Jou, Iori and Koushirou in another and the last one had Luna, Yamato and Taichi. Their group was currently heading in the direction they believed Kitsumon had been going.

“I hope Nyaromon hurry up and evolves I don’t like the fact only our two Digimon can evolve to Ultimate,” Taichi called back being in front of the group.

“Even if she was still at her adult stage Daisuke and Ken wouldn’t be here since their studying,” Yamato pointed out and he saw Taichi nod. They continued walking for a bit when Taichi all of a sudden stopped and Yamato heard him curse or something similar he wasn’t quite sure. “Oi, what’s wrong?” Yamato asked running over to his friend.

“I think I just found the kid that attacked Hikari and Takeru the other day,” Taichi told him. The brown haired teen had a strong grip on the upper arm of a red headed teen that did appear to be the same age as Hikari and Takeru. He was even wearing the black hooded sweater that Takeru said he seemed to favor.

“Let go of me!” the teen snapped at Taichi attempting to punch him. Yamato interfered before he could grabbing a hold of the red head’s wrist. He glared at Yamato, but he didn’t do anything else to try and free himself.

“I don’t see his Digimon,” Agumon told Taichi having looked around for them.

“They’re not here,” he said looking at Agumon.

“Sorry if we don’t exactly believe you,” Yamato told him.

“Do you really think they would let you hold me captive like this if they were with me, especially since my Omegamon Zwart is stronger than you Omegamon?” Aiden questioned them and Yamato noticed he seemed nervous about something.

 _I doubt it has anything to do with us so what exactly is it,_ Yamato wondered then looked at Taichi. “He has a point,” Yamato said as he let the teen’s wrist go.

“Fine,” Taichi said letting the teen go. Instead of running off like Yamato had expected Aiden just stood there rubbing his arm where Taichi had held on. “Why exactly are you here any way?”

“None of your business,” Aiden answered as he pulled his hood up. It had fallen off when Taichi had suddenly grabbed him.

“Well if nothing else it’s a good guess to say we’re in the right area since he’s here,” Luna said and the others had to agree with her.

“You’re still looking around here? I’d figure you would have given up already since there’s nothing here it’s just all ruins and trees,” Aiden said grinning slightly.

“Unless you’re going to tell us something useful you better leave before I decide that bodily harm to you is good enough revenge for what you did to my sisters Digimon,” Taichi threatened though he didn’t really mean it even if he wanted to. It was obvious Aiden didn’t believe Taichi by the way he rolled his eyes before walking off.

“You remember what Takeru told us about him this morning?” Yamato asked Taichi as they continued to walk.

“You mean about how he doesn’t really seem to be fit at being a bad guy?” Taichi asked and Yamato nodded. “I kind of agree with him I mean it was pretty stupid for him to tell us his Digimon weren’t with him especially since he had no clue what we might have done once we found out.”

“I also found it weird that he didn’t take off as soon as we let him go,” Yamato added glancing back at Luna to make sure she was keeping up with them.

“Are you sure you guys aren’t getting it wrong? There is always the possibility you knew how you would react if he told you his Digimon weren’t here and decided it was safer to tell you the truth then to lie about it. I mean if you thought Omegamon Zwart would pop up at any minute wouldn’t you have your Digimon evolve?” Luna asked them as she picked Bithamon up who was the one having trouble keeping up with them. “There is also the possibility he was afraid that if you thought his Digimon were around you would pull a stunt off similar to what my brother did yesterday.” Taichi and Yamato had told her what had happened while they were walking.

“Who knows,” Yamato said still curious as to why Aiden was nervous. _Maybe he really was just scared of us after all…_

::Real World::

“Takeru I just got a text from Luna. It seems they ran into Aiden,” Trace said leaning against the doorpost his cell phone in hand and opened as he starred at it.

Takeru looked up from his notes at Trace. “Did they end up fighting him?”

“Apparently his Digimon weren’t even there. He even told them so himself,” Trace answered then tossed his cell phone to Takeru so he could read it. Takeru barely manage to catch it, but when he did he looked at the text message.

“Maybe they're finally heading in the right direction?” Daisuke suggested leaning towards Takeru so he could read the text as well.

“That’s what they think to,” Trace told him.

“He apparently acted differently than they were expecting as well,” Takeru said tossing the phone back to Trace who had no problems catching it.

“What do you mean?” Hikari asked looking at Takeru.

“I don’t think Aiden really wants to harm Digimon. I mean Nyaromon barely got hurt after all the hits she took and Patamon only got hurt because of the ice. Black War Greymon even broke the ice off his arms for him before he left,” Takeru told her knowing she probably hadn’t seen that since she would have been looking Nyaromon over.

“Then why is he helping Kitsumon? He’s going to end up having to harm Digimon if he is,” Daisuke pointed out.

“But we don’t know if he is helping Kitsumon or not. He never actually said he was and we’re just assuming he is because he attacked us,” Kohana countered. “Though even I think he is, but it’ll probably be best to get him to say he is instead of just assuming.”

“I think the comment he made to Yamato and Taichi means he is, but it’ll probably be best to find out for certain since you guys will probably feel better fighting against him if you knew for certain,” Trace told them as he pushed away from the door post. “If he has the guts to show up to school tomorrow you can ask him then.”

“With just transferring he’ll show. Unless he wants to get in major trouble which he might not care about,” Ken said as he took his notebook back from Daisuke. He had been copying Ken’s notes from it since Ken and Kohana where the ones that took the best notes in the group it was safer for Daisuke to use Ken’s since Kohana and him still clashed at times though not so much now. The group studied for a few more hours before stopping and deciding to do something else.

When the group walked into the living room to get their Digimon they were greeted with the Digimon and Trace sitting around in a circle on the floor with a pile of playing cards in the center. Rascmon and Wormmon weren’t playing since they couldn’t hold the cards but they were watching alone with Takeru’s mother, Natsuko. “What are you playing?” Takeru asked noticing there had to be more than one deck of playing cards involved since those playing also had cards in their hands.

“A game called by a name that isn’t that nice so I just introduced it to them as Liar. Any way you usually only play with one deck, but the more cards there are the more interesting it is. The cards are then evenly split amongst the players and the object of the game is to get rid of as many cards as you can. They way you do that is you say what cards you’re going to set down, but the trick is you can be setting down those cards or completely different cards. Your opponents job is to figure out whether or not you’re telling the truth. If they think you’re not they call you a liar and your cards are checked. If you told the truth the one who called you a liar has to add the entire pile of cards to their hand however if you did lie you have to add the pile to your hand,” Trace explained. It was obvious that for the moment Trace was winning since he had the least amount of cards while Tsumon was losing since he had the most. Takeru wasn’t really surprised by this since he could imagine Tsumon claiming Lair every few turns.

“So what exactly are you guys planning to do now that you’re done studying?” Natsuko asked used to them doing this as a type of reward for themselves after each study session.

“We’re actually trying to figure that out since with what all we’ve been doing lately we’re not too sure just what we can afford,” Takeru answered looking at his mom.

“Just what where you wanting to do?” Natsuko asked.

“Just something special to eat nothing else really,” Hikari answered.

“You could always cook something,” Natsuko suggested.

“The problem is making something to where there would be enough for everyone,” Ken told her and she nodded in agreement.

“You could always do a type of potluck thing,” Trace suggested.

“Actually that’s a pretty good idea,” Ken said the group having done it once before last year. It had worked out pretty well then so it would work now. The others agreed it would be a good idea and they headed to their individual homes to get it set up. When Daisuke and Ken had finished what they were making they came to pick up Takeru and Trace. It had actually surprised Takeru when Trace had asked to be able to use the kitchen as well even more so when he realized the teen was a better cook then he was which Takeru was pretty good at it thanks to his mother doing overtime a lot. They met up at the park as planned and hung out for awhile, but when it began to get late they all headed home making sure to drop Takeru and Trace off first.

“So what are you going to do now?” Trace asked from where he sat on the futon he had been borrowing while he stayed there. Rascmon was lying down beside him and Trace was running one of his hands down the Digimon’s back.

“What do you mean?” Takeru asked back not sure what Trace was meaning. He was sitting at his desk his chair turned around to face Trace. Patamon was on the bed playing around with his DS lite.

“Well now that Calilimon is gone what are you going to do since Kitsumon can now reach you in your dreams?” he rephrased the question and Rascmon opened his eyes to look at Takeru.

“The only successful way I know how to avoid them without her is not sleep all together,” Takeru told him.

“Yeah, but just how many days can you go like that? I mean not sleeping can actually kill you which is why despite hating it I still do it,” Trace told him and Takeru knew he was right. He had gotten an e-mail from Jou warning him about the side effects of sleep deprivation. None of them sounded like something he was willing to try.

“Two, maybe three days,” Takeru answered thinking back to when this had happened last time. At that Trace seemed to be lost in thought so Takeru had turned the chair back around to face the desk and began working on writing on his book. He had gotten a few chapters of it done during winter and spring, but it wasn’t near done yet.

“You know I’m beginning to think someone with a key that isn’t part of my family may actually be helping Kitsumon,” Trace said out of the blue. Takeru turned to look at him glad his chair could spin around since he didn’t keep having to pick it up.

“I thought you said there wasn’t anyone who would do that,” Takeru pointed out. Trace looked down at the floor for a moment before looking up at Takeru.

“I said no one who had the nightmare key before me could be helping him I didn’t say anything else about someone else helping him,” Trace countered and Takeru realized he was right.

“Why?” Patamon asked having closed the DS Lite now.

“Too many things are working in his favor. Like your dream island being disconnected from Luna’s realm. If it was still there Luna could have protected you from Kitsumon influence nightmares. She could have made sure it was impossible for you to have nightmares yet now she can’t because the island was disconnected something that has never happened before from what Krista can tell,” Trace said then starred at his hands for a moment before releasing the buckles on one of his gloves and tossed it at Takeru. He caught it and starred at it for a moment trying to figure out just why Trace had tossed it to him.

“That glove is made out of material that can’t be found in the Digital World, your world and I highly doubt it could be found in the redwood forest realm,” Trace explained keeping his ungloved hand sitting ontop of his still gloved one to keep from accidentally destroying something.

“Yet Kitsumon somehow was able to use it,” Takeru said realizing what Trace was getting at.

“Exactly! At first I thought he had managed to somehow copy it, but that would require him having some type of ability similar to Luna’s which I highly doubt he does. I already know it can’t be someone who once held the dream key as well since the last one to hold it was my mother and she died not to long after Lee was born,” Trace told him and Takeru tossed the glove back to Trace so he could put it back on.

“What about the person who held it before your mother?” Rascmon asked lifting his head. The Digimon knew more about Trace’s world when compared to Takeru, but he didn’t know everything. Trace thought for a moment before pulling his ruffle bag towards him and pulled a book out of it flipping through a couple of pages.

“According to the history book it belonged to a man who was my great-grandfather. I remember Krista and Luna talking about it one time. It had actually caused a lot of people to panic when no one from the generation before my mother showed any signs of inheriting the key. It isn’t unheard of but it’s even rarer then so many people in one family having as many keys as we do. He died before Luna and I were born so it couldn’t be him either,” Trace said as he starred at the page he had found the information on.

“Which is why you think it’s someone else who has a key like you guys do?” Takeru asked and Trace nodded. “Just what other keys are there?”

“Well the ones we siblings own then one of my cousins has one that is closely related to Lexi’s Time Key which is meant to keep alternate realities from somehow coming in contact with one another. He has an easy job since that doesn’t happen often. Then there is the Balance Key which the holder is supposed to make sure what happened to me with my key being taken _doesn’t_ happen. Krista is pretty pissed off at him at the moment, but she never really liked him any way. Um… Then there is a couple of low rank keys that are specifically tied with my home realm so we really don’t have to worry about those ones they can’t even use them to come here even if they wanted to,” he listed off as he tried to recall just what all there was.

“Are there more?” Patamon asked.

Trace’s faced suddenly paled as his eyes widen. “There are, but I think I already know who it might be… There is only one key stronger then Krista’s that could do everything we can,” Trace said looking at Takeru. “It’s the Law Key. It’s job is to make sure people don’t break the rules of the keys and in order to do that the person who hold it has the ability to copy every key holders ability so they could easily have recreated the material my gloves are made out of,” Trace told him.

“Why do you keep saying ‘they’?” Takeru asked.

“That’s because the only time someone actually see’s the holder of the Law Key is if they have broken one of the law and that hasn’t happen in quite some time from what I understand so no one knows just what they look like or who they are, but damn if it’s really them then things might be a lot more complicated then what we first thought,” Trace said not liking the idea of it at all.

“Just how complicated?”

“Well if it’s really the holder of the Law Key helping Kitsumon then there is a good chance he already knows I suspect him since he can freely access Krista and Lexi’s realm or find out later by using Lee’s realm. It’s also safe to assume that if we do somehow manage to confirm that it’s them any plan we may come up with to beat them they’ll also know…” Trace told him.

“Great just what we need,” Takeru sighed feeling things just could have gotten ten times harder for them.

“There is something else… If it’s really them then we, my siblings and I, can’t help you with them Takeru. The Law Key has one more ability and that is to strip the power of the other key holders. I mean a fight with Digimon we could help with, but ours are pretty useless compared to your since only mine has so far been able to evolve,” Trace informed him.

“Thanks,” Rascmon muttered laying his head down glaring slightly at Trace.

“This just keeps getting worse and worse,” Takeru said with a sigh. “Well even if the Law Key holder is helping since like you’ve already pointed out there is nothing we can do let’s just keep our focus on Aiden and Kitsumon for now.” Things should have been looking a bit more hopeless after what Trace had just told him, but it took more than assumptions to make Takeru’s hope wavier. That didn’t mean he didn’t feel a bit of despair from what Trace had just told him. Still, he wasn’t one that gave up easily…


	12. Chapter Twelve Days Passing By

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copy righted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it’s Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copy right for it.

“ _There is something else… If it’s really them then we, my siblings and I, can’t help you with them Takeru. The Law Key has one more ability and that is to strip the power of the other key holders. I mean a fight with Digimon we could help with, but ours are pretty useless compared to your since only mine has so far been able to evolve,” Trace informed him._

“ _Thanks,” Rascmon muttered laying his head down glaring slightly at Trace._

“ _This just keeps getting worse and worse,” Takeru said with a sigh. “Well even if the Law Key holder is helping since like you’ve already pointed out there is nothing we can do let’s just keep our focus on Aiden and Kitsumon for now.” Things should have been looking a bit more hopeless after what Trace had just told him, but it took more than assumptions to make Takeru’s hope wavier. That didn’t mean he didn’t feel a bit of despair from what Trace had just told him. Still, he wasn’t one that gave up easily…_

The nice thing about having a friend stay over that barely slept meant that at least Takeru wasn’t the only one that didn’t sleep that night. Of course once Trace learned that Takeru was writing his story he pretty much left him alone especially after Takeru let him borrow his DS Lite. Rascmon had decided since Takeru wasn’t going to sleep on the bed then it would be alright for him to climb up there and sleep, but the Dog Digimon stuck to the foot of the bed leaving the head of it to Patamon. It wasn’t until Takeru had gone into the bathroom to switch into his school uniform that the two Digimon had woken up.

Since his mother didn’t have to leave early she made breakfast for all of them and when it came time to leave for school Takeru found out Trace had decided to go talk to Krista about the holder of the Law Key. Since there wasn’t anyone really available to make sure he got their safely Rascmon had decided to evolve to Kusarimon since the Digimon was quite fast it wouldn’t take him long to reach the hotel. Takeru was actually curious as to what Krista would have to say on Trace’s theory but it was going to have to wait until after school.

By the time Takeru reached the school Hikari, Kohana, and Miyako were with him and as they were heading for the front of the school they ran into Daisuke and Ken who had just finished with their club. The group of friends was shocked that upon reaching the doors to the school they spotted Aiden standing there with his two Digimon. He was wearing his school uniform his red hair having been tamed and pulled back into a small pony tail at the base of his neck which meant his hair was shorter than it had been just yesterday since it would now only fall to about his shoulders. The sleeves of his uniform jacket had been rolled up to his elbow showing his hands and arms wrapped in bandages he must have done himself because no doctor would have done such a poor job. There were also a couple of bandages on his neck as well as a few on his face.

Hikari’s eyes narrowed and she walked up to Aiden who turned to look at her upon hearing her approach. The two stared at each other for a moment and she began to raise her free hand, since she held Plotmon in the other one her having evolved last night, making Takeru wonder if she was going to punch him or something, but she let it fall back to her side with a sigh. “What happened?” Hikari asked.

“Nothing,” Aiden told her as his two Digimon hid behind him. He placed one hand on Black Gabumon’s head and one on Black Agumon’s as well.

Takeru walked up beside Hikari and knelt down to check and see if Aiden’s Digimon were somehow hurt. From what he could see they didn’t have any injuries but they didn’t seem too happy to have Takeru and Hikari so close to them. _They’re scared of us,_ Takeru realized eyes slightly wide. It seemed strange to him that they where since they could easily hold their ground against their Digimon. He then stood up straight and looked at Aiden. “Since your Digimon aren’t hurt something must have happened after you ran into Taichi and the others. So what happened?” Takeru asked.

A confused expression appeared on Aiden’s face, but he shook his head and the expression was gone replaced with a blank one. “It’s none of your business,” Aiden said and turned to head inside. He didn’t get very far before Hikari grabbed onto his arm to stop him, but when she felt his muscle tense she realized doing so hurt him. She let go the same time he pulled his arm away from her.

He turned around now clearly angry and was about to say something, but Hikari spoke up first, “Did Kitsumon do this to you?”

“Kitsumon? Who’s that?” Aiden asked stuffing his hands into his pocket which caused him to wince slightly. At least the question had managed to alleviate his anger for the moment as he tried to act confused.

“Come on the only reason you would attack our friends _and_ appear in that place is if you were helping him!” Daisuke shouted staying back where he was in case Aiden and his Digimon did decide to fight and wished his two friends weren’t so close to Aiden and his Digimon for the same reason.

Aiden sighed rolling his eyes. “Kitsumon didn’t do this to me, alright?” he told them then he walked inside. Now that Aiden was gone Black Gabumon and Black Agumon took off before they could try and ask them what might have happened. Takeru watched them go again wondering why those two where so skittish.

“Why are you so worried about him, Hikari?” Daisuke asked as he walked up beside her.

“I’m not worried more like concerned. I mean we already know Kitsumon is insane who knows what he might do to him,” Hikari answered looking at Daisuke.

“Well not much we can do if he won’t talk to us,” Ken said as he began walking inside Daisuke following after him.

“You could try asking him again during lunch?” Kohana suggested as Hikari handed Plotmon over to Tsumon who already had Patamon sitting on his head.

“Yeah it would be easy to corner him in your classroom since it only has two doors,” Tsumon said and Plotmon glared up at him. “What?”

Plotmon sighed and shook her head. “If they did something like that it would most likely result in a fight,” she told him and Tsumon realized she was right.

“Takeru we’re going to go head over to the courtyard,” Patamon told Takeru.

“Alright we’ll see you at lunch,” Takeru told him and the group of Digimon walked off towards the courtyard.

“Maybe cornering him wouldn’t be such a bad idea,” Miyako joked as she walked past the three to head inside.

“Oh yeah great idea then we can be accused of bullying the new kid,” Hikari said tempted to roll her eyes like Aiden had done earlier. She had a feeling it wouldn’t have the same effect as when he had done it though.

“I doubt anyone would be brave enough to accuse you of bullying someone,” Takeru said as they started walking inside.

“What does that mean!” she asked looking at him hands on hips. Was he implying that their other classmates where scared of her or something?

“Oh, nothing, just remember most of our classmates do happen to know your older brother and just how protective he is of you,” Takeru reminded her.

“True it’s also his fault that the few boyfriends I get keep breaking up with me,” Hikari said causing Kohana to giggle and Takeru to grin.

“Sounds like him,” Takeru commented.

Like Kohana had suggested Hikari attempted to find out just what had happened to him during lunch and for the first few minutes he ignored her. When she proved she wouldn’t be giving up easily Aiden left the classroom all together. Hikari attempted to follow after him, but he was too fast for her and easily lost her. At that point the Digimon had joined them in the classroom to eat which was against the school rules but none of the teachers actually enforced them since the Digimon never really caused trouble.

“Come on Patamon,” Takeru said standing up when Hikari had returned to her desk to eat lunch with Kohana and their Digimon.

“How come?” Patamon asked as he hopped onto Takeru’s shoulder while Takeru ripped a piece of paper out of his notebook.

“She’s not going to be happy until she finds out just what happened. I need you to see if you can find him,” Takeru told Patamon.

Patamon nodded smiling. “You’re a good friend Takeru,” Patamon told him. Once they stepped out of the classroom the two of them separated Takeru searching the empty classrooms while Patamon looked outside. It didn’t take very long for the small Digimon to come back.

“He’s up on the roof,” Patamon told him landing on Takeru’s shoulder.

“Of course,” Takeru muttered as he made his way up to the roof. Aiden was up there by himself Takeru figuring his Digimon had gone back home.

“Pretty brave the two of you coming here by yourself. I figured at least you two would leave me alone,” Aiden said when he spotted Takeru.

“If Hikari wasn’t so concerned about what happened to you I probably wouldn’t be doing this,” Takeru admitted. She was his best friend after all and she had done a lot for him since he had known her just as he had done a lot for her.

“Yeah well you’re all crazy,” Aiden told him and Takeru just shrugged as he texted Hikari telling her were Aiden was. Despite this Aiden didn’t leave, but contented himself with glaring at Takeru who was obviously ignoring him at this point. Realizing he was being ignored Aiden leaned back against the chain link fence meant to keep people from falling off the roof his hands in his pocket as he glanced over his shoulder watching Digimon play with their partners.

Takeru closed his cell phone after he sent the text and glanced at Aiden. “Are you really on Kitsumon’s side?” Takeru asked.

“Do you still see the world in black and white?” Aiden asked in turn.

“I’m not sure I understand what you’re asking,” Takeru told him

Aiden sighed and explained further, “Black and white, good versus evil, ying and yang or a term you would best understand Light versus Darkness.” He was looking at Takeru now.

“No I don’t,” Takeru told him.

Aiden grinned obviously not believing him. “You, Takeru Takaishi, Child of Hope believe once something has helped “Darkness” it has become tainted and tainted things are something you just can’t trust, but of course that person has to help of their own free will otherwise you would just blame everything on the darkness. You also have that naïve view that people who have Digimon can’t really be evil and because of this view your hoping that I answer you no, not really I’m not on Kitsumon’s side the crazy Digimon just has something on me forcing me to help him,” Aiden told him.

Takeru wasn’t quite sure he understood what Aiden was trying to say and Aiden must have realized this because he spoke again, “Yes I’m on Kitsumon’s side and no he doesn’t have anything forcing me to help him I do this of my own free will and will continue to do this so long as I please and there is nothing either you or her can say that will change my mind.” Takeru turned around then spotting Hikari at the head of the stairs. Aiden pushed away from the fence and walked past the two of them.

He only managed to get a few steps down the stairs before Takeru ran over to where Hikari was at and called down to him, “Why?”

Aiden looks up at him and said, “Because I don’t trust humans.” Then he continued to head down the stairs. Before he could get very far Takeru hurried down the stairs and grabbed Aiden’s upper arm shoving something in Aiden’s hand. “You may not trust humans, but I don’t trust Kitsumon,” Takeru told him then headed back to class.

Aiden waited until Hikari followed after Takeru before looking at his hand. Takeru had given him the piece of paper he had torn out of his notebook earlier and written on it was both Takeru’s cell phone number and his e-mail address. “Dumb ass,” Aiden muttered, but he didn’t throw the paper away instead he just shoved it into his pocket figuring he’d deal with it later.

When Hikari had finally caught up with Takeru he was at the door of the classroom. “Thank you,” she told him as they walked into their class.

“You’re welcome,” he told her.

“What did you give him?”

“My cell phone number and my e-mail address which I have a feeling I’m going to regret,” he told her sighing slightly.

“Did you find out what happened?” Kohana asked when the two sat near her.

“I forgot to ask,” Hikari said truthfully. She had actually been afraid Takeru and Aiden were going to get in a fight with how Aiden was talking to Takeru.

“You can try again after school,” Takeru told her as he opened up both his and Patamon bento boxes.

“I guess so,” Hikari said before she began to eat.

When school ended once again Hikari approached Aiden to try and find out what was wrong. Upon seeing her approach Aiden groaned. “You really aren’t going to leave me alone until I tell you?” he asked leaning back in his chair to look at her.

“Nope,” she answered.

“Fine it doesn’t really matter any way. I slipped on a half rotted log and fell into a thorny bush that makes rose bushes look like daisy’s since the thorns on these usually are around three inches long. They also happen to be coated in something that irritates the wounds they inflect. Since no one was there to help me most of the wounds were gotten trying to get out of the bush. Thankfully I had a knife with me so I could just cut off the hair that was tangled up in it,” he told her tugging slightly on his ponytail.

“Why didn’t you just tell me that?” she asked wondering why he hadn’t answered her the first time she asked. She was shocked to say the least when his cheeks turned slightly pink from embarrassment.

“Because it was a stupid mistake that got me in the bush in the first place and further stupidity that I was actually there by myself in the first place!” he snapped as he began gathering his things together. Hikari couldn’t help laughing a bit which caused Aiden to slam the current book he was holding on top of his desk and glared at her. “That’s exactly why I didn’t want to tell you!” He then closed his eyes and took a deep breath calming down. When he opened them again told her, “Look you better warn whoever is looking around about those since the wounds can get pretty bad if they’re not careful.” With that he finished packing his bag and left the classroom.

“So did he finally tell you?” Daisuke asked when she joined up with them outside. She was in the middle of texting her brother about the plants.

“Yep apparently he fell in a thorn bush while in the Redwood Forest realm,” she answered as she sent the text message off.

“Why didn’t he just tell you that?” Ken asked finding it strange that he had made such a big deal about something as simple as that.

“Apparently it was because he was embarrassed that it had happened in the first place and didn’t want to tell anyone about it,” Hikari told them as they started walking. They were about a block away from the school when Takeru’s text tone went off. Since it was in the pouch on his bag he could still walk as he took it out and read the text message;

Kris and Lu made something for Kohana. If u can stop @ hotel to pick up

“It seems Krista and Luna managed to figure out what to make in replacement of a crest for you Kohana-chan. Their wanting us to stop by the hotel to pick it up,” Takeru told the others as he put his cell phone up.

“I wonder what they managed to come up with,” Tsumon said as he smiled happy at the idea that he was going to be able to help fight at some point.

When they reached the hotel the group walked inside wondering just how they were supposed to know what rooms Trace and his siblings were using. They were glancing around trying to figure out what to do when Trace walked up to them Rascmon following him. He tossed something to Kohana and she caught it starring at it. “A bracelet?” she asked looking at it then at Trace.

“Yeah Krista kind of stole the idea from the armlet thing that kid Aiden was doing,” Trace explained as Kohana put the bracelet on.

“How does it work?” Hikari asked as she looked at it. The bracelet was made out of some type of metal but she noticed it had obviously been made with her in mind since it was purple with flowers etched into the metal.

“Basically the same way a crest does, but at the same not since we can’t chance creating something like a crest. From what I understood of Krista’s explanation it’s better than your Digivice at harnessing powers from your emotions so it can give more energy to your Digimon to help them evolve to their higher stages. I warn you though it’ll have the same affects it did on Aiden. You use it to much in one day and you’ll feel side effects. Twice a day is about the most you’ll be able to evolve so be careful,” Trace warned Tsumon looking at the angelic Digimon. Takeru had a feeling that it if was for any other Digimon the times they could evolve would be higher.

“Otherwise Kohana will be easy prey for whoever we’re fighting right?” Tsumon asked and Trace nodded his head. “Don’t worry I’ll be careful.”

“Good. Luna is going to try and make more of them once she gets back for us, but she didn’t want to tire herself out before she went to help with the search,” Trace told them.

“Yeah Taichi was talking about stopping the searching if they didn’t find anything today,” Hikari said remembering her brother hadn’t been to happy that Aiden’s smart aleck comment was coming true.

“What about what you came here to talk to Krista about?” Takeru asked and Trace sighed.

“She actually wasn’t too happy about that, but she isn’t going to ignore the possibility,” Trace answered him obviously not happy with whatever his older sister had told him.

“The possibility of what?” Ken asked looking at them.

“Trace thinks there might be someone helping Kitsumon,” Takeru said not going into much detail for the moment since there was no way of knowing if Trace was right or not. Nonetheless he was going to write an e-mail to Taichi and his brother about it so they would at least be warned. Whether or not the others were told he’d leave up to those two.

“Like we don’t have enough things to worry about already,” Daisuke whined not too happy about the idea of more trouble coming their way.

“Well Krista thinks I may be over thinking things so she only sees it as a slim possibility so maybe you won’t have to worry about it,” Trace told him shrugging.

“Sorry to say it Trace but I kind of hope she’s right,” Ken told him and Trace just shrugged again.

“You’re not the only one,” Trace admitted wishing more than anyone that he was indeed wrong.

“Any way let’s head to the park today,” Daisuke suggested with a grin holding the soccer ball up he had been carrying.

In the end they did as Daisuke had suggested spending most of the afternoon within the park. Taichi and some of the others ended up joining them sooner than they had expected, but they had decided there was no point in searching anymore since they couldn’t find anything any way. After that they decided to head home since most of them had homework that they had to do. Trace ended up staying the night again at Takeru’s and while neither of them slept Takeru did manage to write more of his story.

-X-

School was pretty normal the next day for the Chosen Children except Takeru had a bit of trouble focusing in class thanks to the lack of sleep. Instead of taking notes like he should have been doing during their second to last class for that day he was actually writing on his story. Luckily he didn’t get caught by the teacher since he wasn’t called upon for anything in that particular class. As for the last class, well, he was glad that he had friends in his class so he could copy from their notes later. Takeru was also glad that Plotmon managed to evolve to Tailmon halfway through lunch so she could now evolve to her Ultimate stage without worry.

Takeru sighed as he gathered up the school books he would need tonight putting them in his bag. He was beginning to get a headache thanks to not sleeping for two nights. He already knew he was going to have to sleep tonight. “How can Trace stand doing this,” Takeru mumbled as he shouldered his bag. With a sigh he began walking towards were his friends had gathered as they waited for him before leaving.

They talked amongst each other as they walked to the shoe lockers. The group was walking slower than normal since they were keeping pace with Takeru, but none of them really minded. After they had all switched their shoes for their outdoor ones they continued on their way. They had barely left the school grounds when they heard someone shout, “Gehenna Flame!” Which was followed by hotter than normal flames thrown at them that caused Tailmon to evolve to Ofanimon, Patamon to Seraphimon, V-mon and Wormon to Jogress evolve to Paildramon, Hawkmon to armor evolve to Holsmon and Tsumon to En’zakamon in order to protect their human partner or move them out of harm’s way.

Takeru looked up as Seraphimon let him go so the teen was standing on the ground again. Up above them he spotted three Digimon two of which were Black War Greymon and Black Metal Garurumon, who had Aiden on his back a laptop on his lap, while the one was one he hadn’t seen before. It was the one that had attacked them appeared to be a humanoid Digimon for the upper portion of his body, while starting from the chest were a bird face along with a beak waist down was obviously bird like even ending with bird feet with wicked claws. A lot of his body was covered by armor the only vulnerable parts on his body being his devil like wings, upper arms, upper legs and his almost lizard like tail.

When Takeru turned his attention to what was before them there was one more Digimon standing on the ground also one he didn’t know. It looked like a young woman wearing a golden serpent head helmet with small wings coming from each side of it that covered the upper portion of her face. Like the first Digimon she was wearing armor that was golden in color but only over her chest, shoulder and arms. She wore some type of tan cloth skirt and short reddish boots. In one hand she held a great sword as big as her that the hand grip was gray in color, the hilt was golden, and the counter weight on the back of it was the same color as her boots with a white and black serpent facing each other almost shaping a heart. The center of the sword also had the same red color with the white and black serpent entwined the black ones head towards the hilt of the sword while the white one was near the tip of the sword. While the other held a shield the same golden color as her armor with a white spike in the center of it. What was strange about her was she was actually the same size as an adult human making her pretty small for most Digimon

In the break in attacks Paildramon quickly evolved up to Imperial Dramon switching to Fighter Mode. Aiden glanced at Holsmon and En’zakamon for a moment before looking at Takeru. “Since you have your friends to help you I thought I would get two of my Ultimate friends to help,” Aiden told him grinning.

“I am not your friend human!” The male Digimon said turning to glare at him.

“I am!” The female Digimon chirped then proceeded to wave up at him wildly. Aiden groaned wondering why he had been stuck with her of all Digimon. “Aw come on Aiden don’t act like that! I promise when we’re done we’ll hang out!”

“Just attack them already!” He shouted down at her.

“Yes~!” she said dashing forward as she raised her sword and swung it at Imperial Dramon Fighter Mode. The knight Digimon blocked the attack with one of his arms, but the short Digimon was stronger then she looked and the force of her attack sent Imperial Dramon flying. He almost crashed into the school but Black Metal Garurumon quickly moved behind him.

“Metal Howling!” he shouted releasing a sound wave attack that counter balanced his movement to where Imperial Dramon Fighter Mode stopped.

“Minervamon!” Aiden shouted at the female Digimon glaring at her.

“Wa~! Aiden’s mad at me!” she said grinning up at him obviously joking since she didn’t really care, but Aiden continued to glare at her “Right no destroying the school silly me!” she said grinning as she rushed at Imperial Dramon Fighter Mode again.

At the same time Black War Greymon dove at Seraphimon intending to impale him with one of his Dramon Killer gauntlets. Seraphimon blocked his attack with his own gauntlets. This caused Black War Greymon to swing his free hand at the angelic Digimon attempting to unbalance Seraphimon. When his plan proved to not be working Black War Greymon pushed away from Seraphimon retreating into the air. Seraphimon quickly flew after him. “Excalibur!” he shouted slashing at Black War Greymon.

“Brave shield,” Black War Greymon shouted blocking Seraphimon’s attack with the shield he wore on his back.

“Gehenna Flame!” shouted the one Digimon again sending the attack at both Seraphimon and Black War Greymon. The two Digimon hadn’t expected the attack and was hit by it.

When it appeared the Digimon was going to attack them again Ofanimon flew up at him. “Eden’s Javelin!” she shouted attacking him and forcing him to retreat away from Seraphimon and Black War Greymon.

Black War Greymon growled angrily as he retreated away from Seraphimon his shield now almost useless thanks to the fiery attack. “Damn you Murmukusmon you’re supposed to be helping us!” he shouted as he glared at said Digimon very tempted to attack him back.

“I only agreed to help Kitsumon I remember nothing about your well being!” Murmukusmon shouted back as he dodged another one of Ofanimon’s attacks.

“That damned fox,” Black War Greymon muttered turning to look at his opponent. Seraphimon’s wings had been singed as well as his armor but he had fared the attack better then Black War Greymon. Of course he hadn’t had to block two attacks at once like he had to do.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” Takeru said to the others as he went and joined them. En’zakamon and Holsmon were with them acting as defense.

“I’ve sent a text to my brother hopefully they’ll hurry up and get here,” Hikari told him as she watched the fight.

“If we’re lucky maybe they’ll end up fighting each other,” Daisuke said his attention on the battle between his Digimon and Minervamon.

“There’s a good chance they will with what that Digimon Murmukusmon just did,” En’zakamon told him.

“Why did he even bring them along if one of them won’t cooperate with him?” Kohana asked.

“Most likely he believed Kitsumon had somehow made sure they would. Since Minervamon seems to like Aiden she was a good choice for him, but Murmukusmon wasn’t,” Ken answered.

“Giga Death!” Imperial Dramon Fighter Mode shouted firing the cannon in his chest when Minervamon charged at him yet again. She dug her sword into the ground and turned her shield towards the attack attempting to block the attack using her sword as a weight.

“Wah~!” she cried when her plan failed and it was her turn to be sent flying. She landed on her back in the middle of the road causing several cars to come to a screeching halt. “That hurt!” she cried as she quickly jumped to her feet. She then turned to look at Aiden. “Aiden I can’t even use any of my attacks here! Why did you pick here to fight them?” she whined. If it wasn’t for her helmet she would have given him puppy dog eyes along with the pouty lip she had, but since her helmet was on it didn’t work very well.

“That’s not my fault blame him!” Aiden shouted at her pointing to Murmukusmon. The original plan had been to wait until the Chosen Children were in an area that the Digimon could fight freely or to draw them someplace else, but Murmukusmon had ruined that plan.

Minervamon realizing she wasn’t going to get permission to use her attacks rushed at Imperial Dramon Fighter Mode again this time using a zig-zag pattern to avoid being hit by an attack. As for Murmukusmon he was also getting ready to attack Ofanimon when the cry, “Double Torrent,” came from higher up then they were and a blast of ice hit Minervamon effectively freezing her in spot while a fiery one hit Murmukusmon.

Takeru looked up and spotted Omegamon just as Taichi and Yamato ran towards them. When Murmukusmon ignored the attack all together Omegamon released the Grey Sword and dove at the Digimon. “Grey Sword!” He shouted slashing at the Digimon.

“Eden’s Javelin!” Ofanimon shouted attacking right after Omegamon who quickly turned around and fired another Double torrent at him. All three attacks back to back were enough to cause Murmukusmon to be deleted.

“Damn it,” Aiden cursed then turned to look at his Digimon. “Black War Greymon pull back!” he shouted and Black War Greymon stopped attacking Seraphimon. He quickly flew over to Minervamon and freed her from the ice. Black War Greymon then picked her up.

“Aw come on I’m not done yet!” She protested looking at Black War Greymon struggling slightly.

“You’re welcome to stay if you want to be erased,” he told her, which effectively stopped further protesting and she quite struggling. Black War Greymon then flew over to Black Metal Garurumon and the two quickly flew off.

Takeru watched them fly off. “I don’t get him,” Takeru mumbled then shook his head. It was obvious that even though Aiden didn’t trust humans he still was trying to keep them from being harmed. He also had a tendency of avoiding harm to Digimon when he could help it so just why was he fighting?

-X-

By the time Takeru managed to get home the headache that had started in school was a lot worse now. He had a feeling it wouldn’t have been so bad if it wasn’t for recent events, but he was more than glad he’d be able to get something at home to deal with it. His brother and Taichi had made sure he had gotten home without being attacked and while Taichi had gone home Yamato had decided to stay for a visit. Takeru was also happy to find that the apartment was unlocked which meant his mother was home.

The biggest surprise, however, came upon opening the door. There standing a few feet away from the door was a Tokamon. The Tokamon grinned at them and said, “Welcome home!” Takeru stared at it for a few moments the door still open. It wasn’t until his mother walked into the hallway holding up a Digivice that Takeru finally realized just what was going on.

He laughed and stepped inside slipping his boots off quickly and walked over to the white Digimon picking it up. “I think you meant it’s nice to meet you,” Takeru told him as Yamato walked in closing the door behind him. He slipped his shoes off just as fast as his brother had and walked up beside him to look at the Digimon.

“When did he arrive?” Yamato asked looking over at his mother. Gabumon walked over to the brothers and looked up at the Digimon smiling.

“In the middle of work which is one of the reasons I’m here. He was a bit too energetic upon arrival so I thought it best to bring him back here,” she told him.

Patamon hoped onto Takeru’s shoulder so he could get a good look at Tokamon. “I’m glad there will be another Digimon around,” Patamon told him and the Tokamon turned to look at him.

“I’m glad to be here,” Tokamon told him grinning again. Then he began to squirm a bit so Takeru set him down and he walked up to Gabumon looking up at him. Takeru side stepped the two Digimon to walk over to his mother so he could hug her.

“Congratulations,” he told her after he had stepped back and she smiled.

“Give him a few months, mom, and you’ll be able to help us,” Yamato told her as he walked over to her.

“It would be nice to be able to do something besides worrying all the time,” she told her oldest son. She then took a step back so she could look at both her sons. “So what shall we do to celebrate?”

In the end they decided to go dine out at their mother’s favorite restaurant. While they talked over dinner Takeru found out Trace and Krista had stopped by not to long before he had gotten home to retrieve Trace’s stuff. From what his mother understood Krista had finally gotten tired of the fighting between the two of them and had stepped in to where the two twins had finally talked about what had happened. Takeru was glad to hear it, but it made him wonder why Krista hadn’t stepped in sooner.

After dinner they had gone back to the apartment and Yamato had hung out for awhile before heading back to his own apartment. Takeru was now sitting at the foot of his bed trying to think of a safe way to sleep without having to worry about waking up covered in wounds or worse not wake up at all. The problem was he couldn’t really think of any or he would have used them last time instead of staying up. Thinking about this the teen couldn’t help but stare at the scars on his hands.

“Takeru?” Patamon questioned almost causing Takeru to jump because he was so lost in thought.

“Hm?” he asked turning to look at Patamon.

“I could stay up and if you have a nightmare I can wake you up,” Patamon suggested. Takeru smiled at his friend knowing that Patamon would probably end up falling asleep half-way through the night which meant if Takeru did have a nightmare with how heavy of a sleeper Patamon was he probably wouldn’t find out about it until he woke up. Patamon would then blame himself is anything happened to Takeru.

“Thank you, but can you actually stay awake for the entire night?” Takeru asked him.

Patamon quickly nodded his head. “Yep! There wasn’t much going on today so I spent most of the time sleeping while you were in class!” Patamon reassured him.

“Alright then,” Takeru said hoping his friend was speaking the truth. Takeru stood up and finished getting ready for bed turning the light off when he was done then crawled into bed. It didn’t take very long at all for Takeru to fall asleep thanks to two sleepless nights in a row.

-X-

He was standing in a field the grass coming up to chest height on him the sky full of black ominous clouds threatening a storm at any minute. Slowly he started walking and as he progressed he couldn’t help, but notice it was like wadding in water instead of walking through grass. Laughter echoed around him and he turned trying to figure out where it was coming from, but he couldn’t pin down the source.

“Is this really the only way?” he heard someone, a male, say ahead of him. Takeru picked his pace up trying to find who was speaking.

“Yes things have gotten out of control and if we don’t do something soon they won’t have a future,” a different person this time, a female, spoke.

“Heaven help us they’ll never forgive us,” the male said his voice sounding remorseful.

“Does it really matter? For them I will give up everything,” the female voice spoke again her voice speaking just how much whatever these two were planning to do really hurt her. It also made Takeru start running, but he felt something grab onto the back of his shirt. He stopped and turned finding a little girl behind him her cloud gray eyes staring at him.

She couldn’t be older than seven if he had to guess with long white hair that curled into ringlets. She wore a plain black t-shirt and jean shorts with sandals. The hand that wasn’t holding onto his shirt held a large teddy bear tightly against her. Like her hair the teddy bear was white. “Who are you?” she asked tilting her head slightly to the side.

“Takeru,” he answered forgetting all about the two voices he had been chasing after. The little girl let go of his shirt. “What’s your name?” he asked

“My name is Aderes,” she answered smiling brightly at him then she took hold of his hand with her free one as her smile faltered a bit. “Come on. We can’t be here,” she told him as she tugged his hand slightly trying to lead him the opposite way he had been going.

“Why not?” he asked glancing in the direction he had been going as he let the little girl pull him along with her.

“That’s because over there has happened! It is dangerous if we go over there and make it un-happen!” she explained as if it should make prefect since to everyone, but Takeru just ended up confused. She stopped suddenly and turned to face him holding his hand in front of her face. It took him a moment to realize she was looking at his scars. “How?” she asked looking up at him her eyes round with curiosity. There seemed to be something else in her expression, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

“Electrical burns,” he told her as she carefully ran her small fingers over some of the scars. She then let go of his hand and took a few steps back to get a good look at Takeru. He stood still as she circled him a few times looking him over. After about the fifth time she stopped in front of him a blank expression on her face that really did not fit a child at all.

She hugged her bear tightly to herself burying her face into the back of the bears head and mumbled something that the only word he could pick up was shouldn’t. She then peeked at him over the bears head as she seemed to contemplate telling him something. “Takeru,” she began pulling the bear away from her face so it would quite muffling her words. “Thank you.” Takeru looked at the small child confusion on his face. “Don’t worry you’ll understand,” she told him holding the bear behind her. “Just a bit longer, kay?”

When Takeru awoke to the sound of his alarm clock going off the teen didn’t remember much about the dream he had, but the confusion lingered. Patamon had managed to stay awake like he said he would having kept himself entertain with one of his DS Lite games. “Good morning Takeru,” he said then yawned as he closed the DS.

“Good morning Patamon,” Takeru said sitting up. He had a feeling the small Digimon was going to spend most of the time he was in class sleeping once again. Takeru stretched as he stood up then walked over to his closet to retrieve his school uniform to change into it. As for Patamon the small Digimon went to see if Natsuko was here or if he was going to have to wait until Takeru cooked to be able to eat something.

Takeru came out a few minutes later in his uniform and set his bag down by the entrance before heading over to the table since he knew by the talking that his mother was indeed home. They ate breakfast together Tokamon every once in awhile telling them how good something was. After it was finished Takeru went to retrieve their bento’s out of the fridge while Patamon waited for Takeru near his bag. Bento’s in hand Takeru walked over to his bag and placed them inside before shouldering the bag. Patamon flew up and landed on Takeru’s head. “I’ll see you tonight, mom,” Takeru called into the kitchen.

“Alright have a safe trip,” she told him.

“Have a safe trip!” Tokamon echoed as Takeru slipped his boots on and walked out the door.

-X-

Not even an hour into the school day and the Chosen Children were worried. Kohana wasn’t here which normally if she wasn’t coming because she was sick or something Hikari would get a text message from her. What really had them worried, however, was the fact Aiden was also not there. It made Takeru remember how Calilimon had warned him that she would be in danger. He hadn’t really understood what she had meant, but after having as long as he had to think on it he was beginning to get the picture.

It was near the beginning of lunch when Aiden finally showed up. When he had first showed up at the door of the class room it looked like for a moment he was going to bolt, but then again who could blame him with the way the Chosen Children were probably starring at him. “Before you even _try_ and blame me for something I have a good reason as to why I’m late!” he told them glaring at each one in turn.

“What would that be?” Takeru asked his tone of voice kind of flat since he wasn’t going to believe him unless he had some type of proof.

Aiden pulled one of the sleeves of his jacket up revealing the bandages on his arms. These ones had been put on by someone who knew what they were doing. “Black Gabumon and Black Agumon didn’t think I was doing a good enough job when it came to taking care of my injuries so they kept badgering me to go to a doctor until I finally gave in today. I even turned in a doctor’s note to the homeroom teacher so you can go check with him if you don’t believe me, but whatever has you guys upset it’s not my fault,” he told them and when they didn’t seem to want to argue with him he walked towards his desk.

Hikari turned to look at him and asked, “Then do you know what Kitsumon may be up to?”

Aiden sighed. “I don’t see the point of answering you since I doubt you’d believe me any way,” he told her. She continued to stare at him for a bit and he sighed again answering her afraid she would pester him like she had done before if he didn’t, “Since I retreated yesterday instead of fighting until Minervamon had been erased he’s mad at me and throwing a bit of a fit so he’s not going to be telling me anything for a few days.”

“Since it’s obvious you don’t like Digimon getting hurt why do you fight at all?” Daisuke asked him. At this point Takeru was only half paying attention to the conversation since he had pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and was sending a text to Kohana’s phone. A glance at Hikari showed she was doing the same thing as him.

“I won’t answer that,” Aiden said as he pulled his lunch out of his bag.

“Then how about this one? Are you from the Redwood forest realm?” Takeru asked looking at him. He had been wondering about that since his brother and Taichi had run into him there. There wouldn’t really be any other reason he could think of that would cause Aiden to go there without his Digimon unless he was.

“Redwood forest realm?” Aiden asked confused or a moment but then he seemed to realize what Takeru was talking about and answered “Yes I was born there.”

“Then can you tell us what happened there?” Ken asked.

“No I won’t,” Aiden said a dark expression on his face.

Since it seemed to upset him asking him about it they decided it would be best to drop it for now. Instead they went to go meet up with their Digimon while Aiden stayed at his desk eating. When Takeru and Hikari hadn’t gotten a response by the end of their lunch period they decided to each send one to one of Kohana’s parents; Hikari sent one to Kohana’s mother while Takeru sent one to Kohana’s father. The two almost instantly got a reply telling them that Kohana was sick.

“Strange… I wonder why she didn’t text me,” Hikari said as she quickly put her cell phone up as the teacher walked in. It also made it to where Takeru couldn’t talk to her about it, but it didn’t matter since he couldn’t really think of a reason she wouldn’t have.

Near the end of the last class Takeru was volunteered by the teacher to take homework and handouts to Kohana’s apartment. Not that he really minded since it now gave him a reason to head over there and see how she was doing. Hikari decided to tag along while Ken and Daisuke had a soccer game after school so they would be attending that. Of course Miyako would be watching and since Iori didn’t have any kendo practice he was going to go as well. Before they left the school Hikari and Takeru promised to come watch since the game wouldn’t be over before they were done.

When Takeru and Hikari reached Kohana’s apartment Hikari rang the doorbell and they stood waiting for someone to answer the door. When no one answered after awhile they grew concerned. They knew because of how young Katsu was Kohana’s mother, Kysandra, was staying at home taking care of him so she should have answered at least. Hikari looked at Takeru then stepped towards the door and turned the knob finding it unlocked.

“I don’t like this,” Hikari said looking at him.

“Neither do I,” Takeru agreed.

“Maybe we should check on her?” Tailmon suggested.

“What if it’s a trap?” Patamon asked.

“If it is one then Kohana is in trouble and even if it’s not something is wrong. Either way I would rather check then say we did nothing when we do find out something was wrong,” Takeru said.

“I agree. Let’s just warn everyone else what’s going on before we go in just to be safe,” Hikari said as she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and texted her brother while Takeru sent a text to Miyako. Hikari’s stated if they didn’t call in five minutes then something was wrong while Takeru warned Miyako of the possible danger so if he also didn’t call in about five minutes she would also know something was wrong.

“Alright lets go,” Takeru said and Hikari nodded in agreement as she pushed the door open and the two of them walked inside.


	13. Chapter Thirteen At What Cost?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copy righted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it’s Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copy right for it.
> 
> This chapter had at least three different versions of it. Four counting the rough draft. The Second one I posted on FF.net only to have someone point out repeating paragraphs. So I got rid of those which made the third version. Then while getting it ready to post on here I still found a ton of mistakes AND a repeating paragraph X_X This one is good proof as to why you do NOT stop editing half way through a chapter.

It had been a trap that much was obvious to them as soon as they had stepped through the door. For, instead of Kohana’s apartment, they had found themselves in a wide open plain. As the four where looking around Hikari suddenly spoke up, “I just realized something.”

“What?” Takeru asked her as he turned his attention to her the same time the two Digimon did.

Her expression was grim as she told him, “We have no idea just when we might have actually stepped into Kitsumon’s illusion.” Takeru starred at her for a moment confused as to just what she meant, but then understanding dawned on his face. There was a good possibility that they had entered it long before they had “reached” Kohana’s apartment and if that were the case then the text messages they had just sent to their friends would never have gotten through. “Should we have waited for them to reply?” Hikari wondered as she looked forward.

“No it wouldn’t have really mattered if we did or not. I’ve had conversations on my cell phone in his illusions with you guys that didn’t really happen in the end. Remember?” Takeru pointed out and Hikari nodded. He couldn’t help but wonder just how strong Kitsumon’s Illusions could get if he could pull a trick like that off.

“Let’s just find Kohana and her family before something happens to them,” Takeru said as he started walking and Hikari followed after him. Out of all of them it was Katsu he was actually the most worried about at the moment since he wasn’t even half a year old yet. Kohana had her Digimon to watch out for her while Katsu only had his mother to watch out for him as well as Kysandra’s Baby 2 Digimon Chapmon, a small kappa like Digimon.

They hadn’t gotten very far before they had run into Kohana’s father, Kyo. He was lying on the ground asleep with his Digimon BabyDmon, a Baby 2 Digimon that was a dragon with no feet and arms just wings to get around. Takeru hadn’t actually expected to find him since he should have been at work. He looked him over to make sure Kyo hadn’t been injured. He didn’t find any which made sense due to the fact BabyDmon had not evolved. He did notice one thing though; his cell phone was missing. “So Kitsumon sent the replies out to us,” Hikari said when Takeru told her about the missing cell phone.

“Seems like it, but just how long has he had them captive?” Takeru wondered. Since there was nothing they could really do for him except bring him with them and possibly put him in more danger then what he was here they left him where he was. They had also done so because they couldn’t guarantee that it was actually Kyo and BabyDmon since they could have been part of Kitsumon’s illusion. So the small group continued walking and Takeru couldn’t help feeling bad about leaving him behind even if it was for the best.

Next they ran into Kysandra and her Digimon Chapmon sleeping much like her husband had been. Katsu wasn’t with her like Takeru had hoped he would be. “You don’t think Kitsumon has him do you?” Hikari asked as she made sure Kysandra was unhurt.

“I hope not,” Takeru told her as he kept an eye out.

Hikari stood up and looked at him as she said, “Well she doesn’t seem to be injured so I guess it’ll be best to leave her here for now.” Takeru nodded in agreement and they continued to walk hoping that Katsu and Kohana were alright like their parents had be

“Well she doesn’t seem to be injured so I guess it’ll be best to leave her here for now,” Hikari told them and Takeru nodded. Once again they continued to walk hoping that Katsu and Kohana were alright like their parents had been.

After a lot of walking on their part the four could see Kitsumon in the distance and they were also close enough to see something at his feet. “I don’t like this,” Patamon said as he hopped of Takeru’s shoulder and evolved to Seraphimon.

“Neither do I,” Tailmon said agreeing with Patamon as Hikari let her go so she too could evolve up to her Ultimate stage Ofanimon. The angelic Digimon then flew towards Kitsumon at a pace the two teens could keep up with while running. As they got closer they could see it was an injured Tsumon laying on top of Kohana who was cradling her little brother. All three of them were asleep and from what they could tell it was only Tsumon who had been injured.

“Lucky me! I’ve managed to capture the two best friends and their guardian angels,” Kitsumon stated having figured he was going to end up with a lot more then what he had. At the moment he was actually quite happy that he had ended up with just the two of them.

“Let her go!” Takeru shouted as he glared at the fox Digimon. He was now angry that something like this had happened even after he had been warned this could have happened. He should have paid more attention to the warnings!

Kitsumon completely ignored Takeru as he glanced at the two Angelic Digimon just as Seraphimon allowed Excalibur to extend from his armor on his right arm. “Is it really such a good idea to attack me when I have three hostages?” he asked a half smile on his face.

“With you there is no way to tell if they are actually really them or not!” Hikari shouted at him obviously also angry about what was going on. Takeru glanced at her regretting not telling her about the warnings he had received because with her help he would have been able to prevent something like this from happening.

“Are you really willing to take that chance?” Kitsumon asked them now grinning behind his mask knowing full well they wouldn't be willing to.

“We’re not, but we’re also not willing to bargain with you since I highly doubt you’ll keep your word! You also have no proof that it’s really them!” Takeru yelled at him while trying to think of something to fix this mess they have found themselves in.

Kitsumon shrugged as he drew his katana moving it close to the three at his feet. “I ask you again are you willing to take that chance?”

Takeru clenched his fists trying to keep calm for the moment as he clamped down on his emotions. “What do you want?” Takeru asked neither his voice nor face betraying the range of emotions he was feeling at the moment. It caused Hikari to glance at him for a moment which he ignored it was hard enough keeping them under control for the moment with how many he was feeling. Like anger at himself for not doing something to prevent what was happening at this moment. It would have been so simple if he had asked Hikari for help! She could have stayed here like she did before and Kitsumon wouldn’t have been able to do much of anything before others could have arrived to help with Tailmon here!

There was also hatred for the fox Digimon that stood before him which was almost always there when he faced him. However, most of all he felt sheer panic that clawed at his stomach at the idea of the three of them getting hurt. Kohana meant a lot to him he was now more than able to admit that and he knew the only reason her and her brother where in trouble was because of him, but he wouldn’t give into despair because that’s exactly what Kitsumon wanted. That damned fox Digimon and his whole wanting to destroy hope thing. Takeru was going to prove that his hope wasn’t something easily broken, but first he needed a plan that wouldn’t put the three in danger.

Kitsumon grinned pulling his katana away from the three turning his attention back to the angelic Digimon. “Don’t move,” he commanded then shouted, “Blade of the Winds,” as he swung his katana in the direction of the two. Seraphimon and Ofanimon did as they were told not even moving to block the incoming attack. The result was that the force of the attack pushed the two Digimon backwards until they landed a couple feet behind the two teens. Takeru quickly turned to see if they where alright since Kitsumon had only told the Digimon not to move. They were beginning to stand up so he hoped they hadn’t been hurt too badly.

“Blade of the winds!” Kitsumon shouted again and Takeru turned in time to be hit by in the front by the attack Kitsumon purposely missing Hikari all together. Takeru didn’t have the advantage of all the armor that his Digimon had so when the attack hit him it him directly on. The wind was knocked out of his lungs the same time the attack knocked him off his feet and sent him flying. Since Seraphimon was now right behind him the teen didn’t go very before he crashed into the angelic Digimon. Seraphimon did not even have a chance to try and catch the teen to keep it from happening. At that point Takeru wasn’t even sure what hurt the most; the attack or crashing into Seraphimon’s armor. All he knew for certain was that he was going to be very bruised and sore come tomorrow. When it was over he was sitting on the ground leaning back against Seraphimon his eyes closed as he let his body register just what all had been done to it. No point in moving before he even realized if he had broken something or not.

“Takeru!” he heard Hikari call a slight panic in her voice and he opened his eyes to look at her. Slowly he stood up wincing slightly from the pain that it caused, but at least from what he could tell he didn’t have any bleeding wounds thankfully. Kitsumon must have held back when he had attacked him. Lucky him…

“I’m alright,” he told her smiling slightly despite the fact he was sore. He then looked up at his Digimon. “How about you?” he asked seeing some damage to his armor, but not a lot and it wasn’t even very bad.

“I’m fine don’t worry about me,” Seraphimon told him as he glanced down at him for a moment. Takeru nodded as he pulled his messenger bag off to keep it from irritating his already sore body using the handle on top of it to keep a hold of it. He took a step forward to walk back over to Hikari only to be once again attacked by Kitsumon slamming into Seraphimon again, but this time the force caused him to bounce off Seraphimon. He landed on his feet somehow managing not to lose his balance once he did, but he was leaning forward at his waist. This time he tasted blood in his mouth having bit his own tongue and he had a bad feeling when he realized it was beginning to hurt a bit when he breathed.

Still he kept his emotions under control trying to keep what he hoped was a reassuring smile on his face for Hikari. It must not have worked because he heard Kitsumon shout, “Don’t move!” Since he would have seen Seraphimon move from the corner of his eyes it had to be Hikari.

This entire situation made Takeru think about what had happened when Kitsumon had been holding the fake kids and parent’s hostage. It also reminded him of how angry the fox Digimon had gotten because of what En’zakamon had said which gave Takeru an idea as he really did smile. He was about to say something when he felt a rush of wind fly over him and he heard an attack hit Seraphimon and Ofanimon. He hadn’t even heard Kitsumon declare the attack like before. He needed to act quickly if he wanted to be able to put his plan in motion before it hurt too much to talk.

Takeru forced himself to straighten up and laugh despite how much it hurt to do both in order to draw Kitsumon’s attention to himself. It worked of course, but it also had Hikari looking at him out of worry. “En’zakamon was right about you Kitsumon,” Takeru said as he laughed tightening the grip he had on his bag. He was going to need it if he was right about what was going to happen in a moment. “You’re nothing but a coward! You’re only brave enough to attack us if you have the advantage! Even when you had fought to prove En’zakamon wrong the truth was you still had the advantage because you weren’t really there so you had nothing to lose!”

“Blade of the Winds!” Kitsumon growled attacking Takeru this time he wasn’t holding back. Before the attack could hit him Takeru held his bag in front of him using it as a sort of makeshift shield. The bag with all the books inside absorbed most of the attack but Takeru still flew backwards. Thankfully this time he didn’t run into Seraphimon landing a foot shy of the Digimon, but the landing hurt a lot to where Takeru had to bite down on his lip to keep from crying out in pain. The last thing he needed was Kitsumon to calm down because he had actually hurt him.

“He’s right! You are a coward! Do you even know how to fight without hiding behind something?” Takeru heard Hikari shout. She must have realized what he was trying to accomplish, but Takeru wish she hadn’t stepped in. Like him she was attacked and as he slowly stood up trying not to show just how much pain he was in he hoped she had blocked the attack with her bag like he had done. He had a shallow cut across his chest and was even more bruised but that was it. The bag and whatever was inside that had helped block the attack would need to be replaced since it would have been cut in two. For being a bag it served nicely as a temporary shield for him.

“At least as Shaitanmon when you lost the advantage you stuck around and fought until it was clear you couldn’t win. Of course that’s probably only because of someone else’s influence!” Seraphimon shouted wanting to keep the teens from being hurt further while also going along with the plan Takeru had formulated. Kitsumon turned to attack him, but the Digimon noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. He quickly turned and saw Ofanimon flying at him.

“Blade of the Winds!” Kitsumon shouted attacking her and while he was momentarily distracted by her the other three rushed forward ignoring the pain they were in if any in an attempt to get Kohana, Katsu and Tsumon away from him. “I said don’t move!” Kitsumon shouted at them holding the sword dangerously close to Kohana. A flash of light surrounded Tsumon as he evolved to En’zakamon finally having woken up.

“I won’t let you harm her or Katsu! Heaven’s Wrath!” he shouted firing the attack at Kitsumon making the Digimon pull the sword away.

“That’s it!” Kitsumon howled as he moved to attack En’zakamon, Kohana and Katsu. Before he could, however, there was another flash of light causing En’zakamon to evolve further. The newly evolved angelic Digimon was the same size as he was before, but now he had ten wings instead of eight with the same light yellow tint to them. His blonde hair was now all short in the back with a long braid on the right side with a white feather with a lavender tint to it attached near the end of the braid. Most of his long bangs were brushed backwards spiking with a bit falling forward between his eyes. His eyes remained the same and even still had the lightening mark under his eyes. Both his hands had leather gauntlets with a type of metal guard on his forearm. His boots now had metal shin guards strapped over them and his shoulder pad was now metal, but the straps remained leather. Unlike his previous form he was more muscular in this one.

He quickly caught Kitsumon’s sword before he could finish the swing to attack them. “I said,” he began his voice deeper now; “I won’t let you harm them!” He glared at the Digimon.

“How-“ Kitsumon began then noticed Kohana, who was also awake by now, sitting up holding Katsu close to her the bracelet on her arm glowing brightly. Like her Digimon she was also glaring at him. “I see those damned twins again!” he growled turning his attention to the angelic Digimon before him.

The newly evolved Digimon grinned before letting Kitsumon's katana go letting it fall harmlessly onto his shoulder guard then proceeded to kick Kitsumon away from him and the two humans he was guarding. “Keep a good hold on your brother!” he warned as he quickly scooped the two up and hopped into the sky flying towards Seraphimon, Hikari, and Kohana.

Kitsumon recovered from the kick and flew at the newly evolved Digimon in order to attack him. Ofanimon tried to stop him, but he was using his speed to his advantage and passed her by. “Look out!” Ofanimon shouted in warning.

Kohana’s Digimon glanced over his shoulder as he flew and spotted Kitsumon coming at him. He then glanced down at Kohana and Katsu before looking down at Seraphimon. Things were not looking good and even though he was close enough to toss Kohana to Seraphimon to where he could catch her he couldn’t do that with Katsu in Kohana’s arms. Thankfully the boy was still asleep but he could sense just how scared Kohana was. “Don’t worry,” he told her grinning confidently though he did not feel all that confident being newly evolved like he was, “I won’t let him harm you or your brother.” She smiled up at him and nodded obviously she believed in him more then he himself did, but that did help boost his own confidence.

He tightened his grip on Kohana as he dove down towards Seraphimon to increase his speed praying that he could reach Seraphimon before Kitsumon could attack. Thankfully he managed to reach him just as Kitsumon began to attack so the lower level Digimon was able to hand Kohana and Katsu over to Seraphimon. They barely had enough time to turn to where he was facing the attack head on to try and stop it while Seraphimon’s back was now facing the direction of the attack in case the newly evolved Digimon couldn’t block it.

He tried his hardest to absorb the attack with his arm guards, but the difference in the attacker and the defenders levels where soon made clear when he slammed into Seraphimon’s back. With the higher level angelic Digimon behind him now he was able to stop the attack from going any further so he kept it from damaging Seraphimon even if he did take the hit himself. “Are you alright?” Seraphimon asked him as he glanced over his shoulder.

“I’ve been better but at least I didn’t devolve this time,” he told Seraphimon shaking his arms slightly as he moved away from the other angel Digimon then he rolled his shoulders. “Though I feel sorry for Takeru… You’re not exactly soft…”

Seraphimon was about to comment on what his friend said when he realized that the illusion was, thankfully, beginning to fall apart. “Whoa,” the lower level Digimon gasped and Seraphimon turned to look at Kitsumon to figure out what had him so surprised. Ofanimon had managed to come up behind Kitsumon while he had been ignoring her and had stabbed him in the stomach with her javelin.

“You shouldn’t have turned your back to me,” Ofanimon told him as she pulled her javelin free. She went to hopefully finish him off, but with the collapsing illusion there was no longer anything keeping others out of it and Omegamon Zwart, who had most likely been waiting to help if needed, was more than willing to use the opening to help Kitsumon.

“Double Torrent!” he shouted as he flew towards Ofanimon and Kitsumon firing the attack at Ofanimon, who quickly retreated. She did not want to be forced to devolve again by the same Digimon.

“I’ll get you back later,” Kitsumon growled at Ofanimon as a doorway appeared and he escaped into it. As for Omegamon Zwart he devolved down to Black War Greymon and Black Metal Garurumon since they were faster separate and they then flew off before the others could try and attack them. Now that the illusion was gone it was easy to tell that they were in a park.

“What is with that fox and parks?” the newly evolved Digimon asked as him and Seraphimon landed on the ground.

“I don’t know,” Seraphimon told him as he knelt down so Kohana could hop out of his arms.

“Thank you,” Kohana told the two Digimon before she turned to look at Takeru and Hikari. The two had slowed down to a walk once they were certain the treat was gone. Since Hikari was the less injured of the two she managed to reach Kohana and the Digimon first not long after Ofanimon had landed near them. “Are you alright?” Kohana asked her. She could see a shallow cut on Hikari’s stomach but nothing else.

“I’m fine mostly thanks to my backpack just this cut and a bit bruised. I’m more worried about Takeru…” She told her as they both turned to look at Takeru who was still walking towards them walking slow because trying to catch his breath from running hurt more than he had liked.

“Here take Katsu,” she said as she turned to her Digimon handing her still sleeping brother over so he could run over to Takeru.

“Takeru-kun are you alri-“ she began only to her shock once she was in arm reach of him Takeru took hold of her hand and pulled her towards him so he could hug her. It took her a moment, but she gently hugged him back.

“Are you alright?” he asked her.

“I’m fine Tsu-“ she paused for a moment to look at her Digimon over her shoulder. “What is your name in this stage?” she asked him realizing she didn’t know it.

“Sou’Zakamon,” he answered her as he kept his focus on Katsu. He didn’t get to hold him all that often and he didn’t want to chance hurting him since he was so small compared to him.

“Sou’Zakamon did a great job protecting me so I didn’t get hurt. I’m worried about you are you okay?” she asked as she took a step back to look at him. She didn’t need him to tell her that he was having trouble breathing that much was obvious by the shallow breaths but he was also now bent slightly since she had stepped back with one hand resting over the cut on his chest. She highly doubted that was because he was trying to stop the cut from bleeding because like the one on Hikari’s stomach it was shallow.

Takeru slowly nodded. “Yeah it might be a good idea to call my mom,” Takeru told her truthfully since at this point there was no use hiding something was wrong with him.

“I’ll call her Takeru. Seraphimon and Ofanimon why we wait for her to arrive why don’t you see if Kohana’s parents are somewhere in the park. If you don’t find them I think we can assume we went through one of those doors after we found them,” Hikari told the two Digimon as she pulled her cell phone out. The two angelic Digimon nodded and flew off to look around the park while Sou’Zakamon walked over to Kohana and Takeru.

“Any idea what may be wrong?” Kohana asked not moving since Takeru now had his forehead resting on her shoulder leaning on her slightly in an attempt to relieve some of the pain he was feeling.

“Maybe bruised ribs since I felt like this when I bruised my ribs in a basketball game a year or so back. I really hope not because that took awhile to heal,” he told her. If it was really bruised ribs he was not looking forward to the next five weeks or so especially with Kitsumon still after him. “This just got a lot more difficult,” he said also realizing there would be no riding Pegasmon as well.

“Takeru your mother is on her way,” Hikari said as she walked over to them closing her cell phone. “I’m going to gather up what’s left of our bags now,” she told the two of them as she walked past them to do just that.

About five minutes later Seraphimon and Ofanimon came back. “We didn’t find your parents Kohana so they are probably at your apartment if they weren’t an illusion,” Seraphimon told him.

“Thank you for looking,” she told Seraphimon. He nodded and the two angelic Digimon devolved down to Patamon and Tailmon.

“Uh yeah if their home then maybe I should head there as well Katsu isn’t too happy,” Sou’Zakamon said pulling his braid from Katsu for the fifth time which resulted in him crying. The tiny baby had awoken while the two angelic Digimon where gone. He sighed and handed the braid back to Katsu who wrapped it around his tiny hand and stopped crying for the moment. At least he wasn’t pulling it.

Kohana looked at her Digimon and smiled. “All right tell them what happened as well,” Kohana said and Sou’Zakamon nodded happily before he flew off. As he flew he made sure to keep a very good hold of Katsu afraid he’d get chewed out if he didn’t once he did arrive at home. He was afraid he would any way. Kysandra was one protective mother and the younger the child the worse she was about it.

Hikari walked back over to them doing her best to carry the two ruined bags. “It’s going to be fun to replace everything that was ruined,” Hikari noted as she set the stuff down for the moment.

“Hopefully Patamon’s DS Lite didn’t get destroyed,” Takeru said as he took a few steps over to where Hikari had set the stuff to see what all had been destroyed Kohana following him.

“No it’s fine though a couple of the games were damaged,” Patamon told him holding the DS Lite up so Takeru could see it.

“Oi you guys alright?” they heard someone shout and turned in time to see Daisuke and the others land near them. Yamato and Taichi quickly hopped off the backs of their Digimon and ran over to their siblings followed by the others.

“Kohana and I are fine it’s Takeru we’re worried about,” Hikari told them as her brother made sure she was okay.

“Do you want me to take you to the hospital?” Metal Garurumon offered as Takeru now leaned against his brother.

“Thanks, but no I’d rather wait for my mom. I think I bruised my ribs,” Takeru explained as he looked at his brother’s Digimon.

“Ouch,” Daisuke commented and Takeru nodded. Ouch summed it up quite nicely…

Patamon, Kohana, Tailmon, and Hikari spent the time until Takeru’s mother showed up separating the stuff between what and been ruined and what was still good. They also had to separate what was Hikari’s from Takeru’s since some of the stuff managed to get mixed up while Hikari was carrying the bags. What had been ruined and wasn’t important to the owner was noted down by Hikari then thrown away since it would be easier to carry the stuff with less of it.

They were finished by the time Natsuko came running over to them Tokamon on her shoulder. Despite Hikari telling her they were all alright for the most part she checked all of them that had been involved in the battle starting with her son. Once she was done all of them walked to where Natsuko had parked her car and Takeru carefully climbed into the passenger side Patamon sitting on his lap while Yamato and Gabumon had gotten in the back. After quick goodbyes Natsuko drove her son to the hospital.

When they arrived at the hospital and explained what had happened to Takeru he learned that comparing it to the bruised ribs he had gotten during the basketball game a year or so ago was wrong. From what he could understand the type of impact he had sustained could be compared to someone in a car accident slamming into their steering wheel. Which required a lot more tests then the basketball injury had and he was even told that he would have to stay at least twenty-four hours at the hospital. Most likely since it was Wednesday evening he wouldn’t be released until Friday morning, but he would be able to attend school that day.

For now it was the same general rules as it had been the first time he had gotten bruised ribs, but because of what was happening to him before he left they would fit him with a type of brace that the padding would wrap around the ribs and strap to his shoulders. It would help reduce some of the movement on his chest to help keep him from irritating his ribs while making it possible to continue his daily life. After the tests where finished they lead him to the bed he would be using. His mother had gotten them all something to eat and would have stayed in the hospital, but Takeru had insisted that it would be alright for her to head home instead of trying to sleep here in a chair. She had left promising to come back tomorrow with some of his things. Yamato had stayed a bit longer, but had headed home in the end as well.

Now he lay on his back in the hospital bed starring up at the ceiling trying to ignore the soft steady beeping of a heart monitor. They had put the small pads on his chest and had told him tomorrow they would plug them into a belt so he would be able to walk around if he felt like it. As for Patamon the small Digimon had been allowed to stay and he sat at the foot of the bed sipping on a straw connected to a juice box that a nurse had given to him when she had come to check up on one of the other patients in the room. He had been silent most of the time since they had gotten here only really thanking the nurse when she had given him the juice box and Natsuko when she had gotten them dinner. Takeru had noticed his silence, but since he was not sure what the cause of it was he had not said anything to him yet. For now he was trying to figure out the cause.

Patamon sat the juice box down on the table that was next to the bed. “Takeru,” Patamon said as he turned to look at the teen.

“Yeah?” Takeru questioned wondering if Patamon himself was going to tell him what was wrong. He felt Patamon make his way towards him. The small Digimon’s steps were light and if he hadn’t been use to him walking along the bed Takeru probably wouldn’t have even noticed them.

Patamon stopped when he was next to Takeru laying his front paws on Takeru’s thigh as well as his head. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything to keep you from getting hurt,” Patamon told him his ears drooping slightly.

Takeru looked down at Patamon and gently placed his hand on his small friends head. “There wasn’t anything you could have done without putting Kohana in danger,” Takeru told him. At least now he knew what was bothering his friend.

“I know but… I should have done something. I have all this power that I’m supposed to be able to use to keep you safe from harm yet you still get hurt. I wasn’t much use in that fight at all,” Patamon said looking at Takeru. Takeru could understand some of what his friend was felling, but the problem was Takeru didn’t have any power like Patamon had so he could protect his friends or even himself. That was what Patamon was here for after all, but Takeru wondered if it hurt more being unable to do anything to help one friend because you’re afraid of what would happen to another when you had the power to stop it. Feeling helpless while powerless was one thing, but feeling helpless while being able to do something about it? It was defiantly different.

Takeru pushed himself into a sitting position ignoring the pain the movement caused as he picked his friend up and held him close. “We'll stop him Patamon. Somehow,” he told him laying his cheek against Patamon's so he felt when the small Digimon nodded his head. He also felt when Patamon gripped the shoulder of his shirt tightly and heard when he began to cry.

It made Takeru wonder that if him getting bruised ribs like this was upsetting Patamon this much just how upset had the small Digimon been when he had been hospitalized the first time?


	14. Chapter Fourteen What is the Breaking Point?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copy righted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it’s Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copyright for it
> 
> Okay guys that's all I'm posting tonight I'll work on getting more up tomorrow. I'm hoping to start early enough to get the rest of the chapters up since there are only ten left before you guys are caught up to FF.net. Part of the reason I'm pushing it so fast now instead of waiting just the one week is so I only have to worry about getting the new chapters done, but to refresh my memory of the small details of my story. It's easy to see when authors forget these details when you the reader read straight through once a work is finished and I try to avoid that ;3

“ _I know but… I should have done something. I have all this power that I’m supposed to be able to use to keep you safe from harm yet you still get hurt. I wasn’t much use in that fight at all,” Patamon said looking at Takeru. Takeru could understand some of what his friend was felling, but the problem was Takeru didn’t have any power like Patamon had so he could protect his friends or even himself. That was what Patamon was here for after all, but Takeru wondered if it hurt more being unable to do anything to help one friend because you’re afraid of what would happen to another when you had the power to stop it. Feeling helpless while powerless was one thing, but feeling helpless while being able to do something about it? It was defiantly different._

_Takeru pushed himself into a sitting position ignoring the pain the movement caused as he picked his friend up and held him close. “We'll stop him Patamon. Somehow,” he told him laying his cheek against Patamon's so he felt when the small Digimon nodded his head. He also felt when Patamon gripped the shoulder of his shirt tightly and heard when he began to cry._

_It made Takeru wonder that if him getting bruised ribs like this was upsetting Patamon this much just how upset had the small Digimon been when he had been hospitalized the first time?_

Takeru stood in front of a mirror the next morning in the bathroom connected to the hospital room he was currently staying in with the shirt like part of the gown they had given him pulled off. This was so he could examine just how badly the bruising was. Just by looking at himself he could tell that Kitsumon wasn’t the greatest when it came to aiming at his target because the bruises didn’t line up just right in the front. Either that or Kitsumon had aimed at different parts of his chest on purpose, but Takeru doubted that. Hitting the same place multiple times did more damage than hitting several different areas. _I wonder if that bit of information will be useful in any way_ he thought to himself while he continued to examine himself.

The shallow cut on his chest had been cleaned up at the hospital but since it had finished bleeding long before he had arrived here they had just put a light bandage on it in case it started bleeding again. The nurse that had checked on him this morning had removed it completely when she saw the wound had remained closed. She had also equipped him with the belt that made it to where he could walk around, but they could still monitor his heart. He had found out from her that they were actually worried that Kitsumon might have damaged his heart somehow thus why they wanted to monitor it so closely.

According to Patamon his upper back and shoulders where also bruised. The small Digimon had told him this after the nurse had left since he knew Takeru was curious just how bad the bruising had been and knew he would not be able to see it himself. It made sense to Takeru that the bruising was there because of the way he had crashed into Seraphimon. At least he knew Seraphimon’s armor wasn’t just for show…

His elbows were also bruised and to top it all off he had a knot on the back of his head from when his head had kept moving but his body had not thanks once again to crashing into Seraphimon. When he had woken up this morning he was sore all over and the same nurse who had given him the belt had also given him medicine to help deal with it.

The real reason he had come in here was because his mother had stopped by with some of his things on her way to work so he was able to wash up somewhat. He was also able to change into a loose fitting t-shirt and sweat pants which was sitting on top of the bag of things his mother had brought him. He’d be glad to get out of the hospital garments after how long he had been stuck in them previously. Since he had finished inspecting his very colorful upper body and washing as well he changed into the t-shirt and sweat pants and walked back into the room.

Upon entering the room he was surprised to see not only Patamon waiting for him, but his brother and Gabumon as well. “I figured since my first class ended up being canceled today I’d stop by,” Yamato explained as Takeru walked towards him. “How are you feeling?”

“Sore, but after what happened I guess that’s pretty much normal. I just wish I didn’t have to be hospitalized again,” Takeru sighed before he climbed up onto the bed which the head of it had been raised at an angle so he could sit up on it. The act of climbing up had caused him to wince since he had to use upper body muscles to actually get up on the bed.

“Yeah well better hospitalized then finding out something is wrong when you can’t reach one,” Yamato pointed out as he sat down in a chair. His brother was right of course, but he still would have liked to be at home or even at school instead of being stuck in here again. “Also, since I doubt you would know this, after what happened yesterday Hikari is going to be staying at Haru-chan’s for awhile to prevent what happened yesterday from happening again. From what Taichi told me she plans to stay there until either Tsumon can evolve into his Ultimate form or this is all over with.”

“Good I’m glad…” Takeru told him smiling slightly. “I don’t want that to happen again. We got lucky that my plan even worked at all.” After he had spoken he placed his hand on the cut of his chest. He didn’t even want to think about what might have happened if he had failed, but admittedly such thoughts had accrued late last night since he was not about to sleep any time soon.

He was brought back from his own thoughts when Yamato suddenly tossed a white envelope at him. “What is it?” Takeru asked as he looked at his brother while also reaching for the envelope.

“Open it up and find out,” Yamato told him as he leaned back into his chair. Takeru grabbed the envelope and did as Yamato told him. Inside where the pictures Yamato had taken of him and Kohana the night Calilimon’s data had left his body. There were also some of the ones Hikari had taken after Yamato had sat down next to him. As he pulled them out he realized there was more photo’s then just those ones. Hikari had taken photos of everyone during the times they had been hanging out during the month even when they had gone to the arcade with Trace and Lee. There was even one of him hugging Kohana yesterday and a couple from when he had been resting his forehead on her shoulder since it hurt him too stand up straight. It was a bit embarrassing that Hikari had managed to get photos of those moments, but still he couldn’t help but wonder just how and when she had managed to take them.

“From what I understand the drawing programs that Kohana’s mother used when she was working work quite nicely for editing photos and their printer is of a higher quality then what Hikari has. She didn’t finish editing them since she didn’t want to spend the entire night working on them, but she did print out a few copies of most of the photographs to give to everyone,” Yamato explained as Takeru slowly went through all of them.

“She’s really good at taking photos without anyone noticing,” Takeru noted as he handed the photo’s over to Patamon so he could take a look at them.

“Yeah from what I understand there is more than just these she’s been taking though. Taichi says she’s even taken photos from when we’ve been fighting figuring they might come in handy later on,” Yamato told him.

“I’m going to have to buy a photo box to store all these in and the ones she’s already given to me,” Takeru said as he watched Patamon go through them.

“You’re not the only one. She’s given me quite a few as well,” Yamato told his brother showing him another white envelope. Takeru was kind of curious as to what photo’s Yamato had received, but didn’t ask to look through them since Yamato wasn’t really paying much attention to the ones he had received. He also knew his brother wouldn’t have looked through them before giving them to Takeru so it didn’t feel right to ask.

“Takeru here,” Patamon said handing him the envelope back once he had finished going through the photos. Takeru placed it in the small duffel bag that his mother had brought him so he wouldn’t somehow forget it.

“Yamato do you think it might be possible for you to stay at dads for awhile?” Takeru suddenly asked out of the blue surprising Yamato.

Yamato looked at his little brother and asked, “Why?”

“I’m afraid Kitsumon might try and hurt him or mom. We can’t keep an eye on them while they’re at work I know that, but at least we can keep them safe when their at home,” Takeru explained as he turned his attention to his brother.

“Any particular reason you are worried about them this time compared to last time?” Yamato asked him.

Takeru nodded then proceeded to explain his reasoning, “Yes, Kitsumon has already proven that he is now willing to use others in order to get to me. Last time the only reason he would attack someone other than me and Patamon was because they had gotten in the way. This time, however… I don’t want something to happen to them…” By the time he had finished explaining his reasoning his voice had almost dropped down to a whisper almost like he was afraid that speaking about it would make it happen.

Yamato could easily see just how much the idea of their parents being hurt because of him scared his little brother. He also knew if they or anyone did end up getting hurt by Kitsumon Takeru was going to end up blaming himself. Yamato prayed that something like that wouldn’t happen because it could end up being the very thing that would break Takeru and give Kitsumon exactly what he wanted. Takeru’s hope was strong far stronger than his or any of their friends, but it wasn’t unbreakable. Sadly nothing really was…

Yamato suddenly smiled at Takeru and reached up ruffling his hair slightly making sure not to be too rough due to Takeru’s bruised ribs. “Don’t worry I’ll make sure Kitsumon doesn’t harm Dad,” Yamato promised.

Takeru looked down for a moment to hide his face from Yamato. When he looked back up at him all signs of fear were gone and he was even smiling. Not for the first time in his life Yamato wished that was one trick of his Takeru hadn’t picked up. His brother might have been good at restraining his emotions and hiding them from almost everyone around him, but it was just something that didn’t suit him. “Thanks,” Takeru told him.

Yamato nodded as he continued to smile and said, “Don’t worry about it.” The truth was he had already been thinking of doing the exact same thing Takeru had just asked him to do. In fact, he had called his father on the way here to inform him he would be staying at his apartment for awhile to make sure he stayed safe. It made Yamato wish he hadn’t moved out right after graduating, but it didn’t matter now because there was nothing he could do about it. Even if he wanted to he couldn’t back out of his lease since he had signed a one year contract so his dad was just going to have to keep paying for it until this whole mess was over and Yamato could get another job.

Yamato stayed for about an hour before him and Gabumon had to leave because Yamato had another class that day. Gabumon had stopped at the door and had turned around to look at Takeru. “Don’t worry Takeru I’ll do my best to protect Yamato,” Gabumon told him. He wasn’t going to foolishly promise he’d make sure that Yamato wouldn’t get hurt like Yamato had done with their father because he knew he couldn’t protect him from everything including Yamato putting himself in harm’s way to protect Takeru. He had learned that a long time ago.

Takeru had smiled at him and had said, “Thank you Gabumon.” Gabumon had nodded then walked quickly in order to catch up with Yamato.

Now that it was just him and Patamon again Takeru let the smile slip and leaned back against the bed with a sigh. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing that he was hospitalized since it gave him time to think on recent events and what should happen next without the distraction of school. There had to be a way they could defeat Kitsumon, but what exactly was it?

He had a feeling they wouldn’t even be able to get near Kitsumon for the moment since Ofanimon had injured him because most likely he was hiding even better than he had before. There was also the issue of the holder of the Law Key if, in fact, Trace had been right about his assumptions. Of course right now if the holder of the Law Key was somehow involved there was less they could do about them since nobody knew who exactly it was. So for now his only worry should be Kitsumon and Aiden if he kept interfering like he was.

“Um… Takeru?” Patamon suddenly called and Takeru noticed he was looking over the side of the bed. Takeru blinked and leaned slightly and looked over at the side wondering what had caught Patamon’s attention. Sitting next to the bed on the floor was a small Digimon that was probably in its Baby 2 stage guessing by the size of it. Its face was cat like in appearance with vertical stripes between its eyes. Around its neck the small Digimon had a type of frill around it. The Digimon was tan in color with amber eyes and while it had no legs it did have a long tail with a white tip. The small Digimon’s attention was focused on the wrist strap connected to Patamon’s DS Lite. As it swung back and forth its ambers eyes followed it. This Digimon obviously had some cat-like behavior to it as well. Takeru was just waiting for it to pounce with how intently it was starring.

“Frimon!” Takeru head what sounded like a young girl calling from the hallway and Takeru looked up at the doorway. A young girl walked up to it and looked at him since his bed was closest to the door. She was about seven or eight and her short black hair had been pulled back into pigtails with curly bangs that almost reached her brown eyes. She was wearing a light pink t-shirt and shorts that had a dark pink flower pattern on it. As for her shoes she wore slippers which made Takeru believe she was a patient here like him. “Have you seen my Digimon? He’s a tiny kitty with a thing around his neck like this,” she explained holding a hand on each side of her neck her fingers spread in an attempt to show what she meant.

“Yeah he’s right here,” Takeru told her pointing at the Digimon. The girl smiled and ran into the room scooping her Digimon up.

“Frimon how many times do I have to tell you! You can’t run around in the hospital or mama will have to take you home!” the girl scolded the Digimon

“But, but there are so many things moving around! I _have_ to chase them!” Frimon whined his eyes still on Patamon’s DS Lite strap. When Patamon noticed this he set the DS Lite down so the small Digimon could no longer see the strap. This caused Frimon to calm down a bit as he shifted his focus to look at his human partner. He nuzzled against her now content with being in her arms when there wasn’t something moving around that wasn’t a human or another Digimon.

“It seems you got a Digimon that’s a handful,” Takeru commented and the little girl nodded.

“Yep, but mama says we kind of match that way,” she said grinning. She then walked up to Patamon so she could at him better before turning to look at Takeru. “You got a cute Digimon! What’s your name?” she asked as she looked at Patamon again.

“It’s Patamon,” he answered smiling at her.

“This is Frimon and I’m Tamiko what about you?” she asked looking at Takeru again.

“I’m Takeru,” he answered her smiling slightly. The girl smiled back and sat down in the chair Yamato had been sitting in earlier that day.

“How come you’re in the hospital?” Tamiko asked out of childish curiosity.

“I managed to get a very bad bruise yesterday that has the doctors concerned,” Takeru explained since he had no idea just how to explain bruised ribs to a child.

“Is that why you look so sleepy? Cause it keeps you up?” she asked him. Like any normal child her age she was full of questions.

Takeru honestly didn’t know he looked sleepy seems how he didn’t feel it. Despite what he had wanted he did sleep for an hour or so last night, but not very well. “It’s some of the reason, but I’ve also been having bad dreams lately,” he told her since it was sort of the truth. More than anything it was his bruised ribs that had caused him to have the troubled sleep more than dreams.

“I have something for those!” she said excitedly standing up. “I’ll be right back!” she told him then ran from the room and down the hall. Her room must have been a bit of a ways off because it took her awhile before she returned with Frimon sitting on her shoulder his tail wrapped lightly around her neck to keep from falling since Tamiko was using both hands to carry a ring-like object that looked like it had a spiders web made out of some type of string in all but the center with a few beads on the string. “My daddy picked up a kit on how to make these when he was on a business trip in America so I would have something to do while I was here. It’s called a dream catcher and it catches bad dreams that get burned up when the sun rises. You can have this one since I’ve made so many,” she told him setting it down on the bed next to him.

Takeru picked up the dream catcher so he could look at it better. The ring that the string was attached to was some type of silver looking metal while the string was tan in color. The beads colored varied but he did notice that all the colors were ones considered to not be a girls color by people around her age. Takeru set it down on a nearby table and turned to look at her smiling. “Thank you,” he told her.

“You’re welcome!” she said then glanced towards the door. “I better go back to my room before a nurse comes to find me. It was nice meeting you!” she told him and before Takeru had a chance to say anything she ran off again. He glanced at the dream catcher for a moment before he stood up planning on walking around since he didn’t like the idea of staying in the hospital room all day.

“Come on Patamon let’s go and explore some,” Takeru told him as he put the slippers on the nurse had left for him. Patamon closed his DS Lite putting the stylus up and hopped down onto the floor since he couldn’t ride on Takeru’s head or shoulder without causing him some type of pain. It didn’t really matter any way since Takeru would be walking slower than usual so Patamon would be able to keep up with him whether he walked or fly.

The two ended up on the roof where they ran into Taichi and Agumon. It hadn’t really occurred to Takeru that someone was most likely here making sure that Kitsumon or Aiden didn’t attack while he was at the hospital and it made him wonder just why his brother hadn’t mentioned it. Taichi sat near the center of the roof his dark blue sling bag lying next to him. In his lap sat a text book from one of his classes. As for Agumon he was standing near the edge of the roof the only one actually keeping look out since Taichi was obviously studying.

It would have been comical to see Taichi sitting there studying since much like Daisuke Taichi didn’t really like homework, but the meaning of his presence kept Takeru from seeing the humor of it. After all, his friend was here worried about his safety. “You know it’s only going to hurt more if you keep moving around,” Taichi told him as he turned a page.

Takeru blinked wondering how Taichi knew he was there, but then he noticed Patamon had gone to join Agumon. Taichi must have seen the little Digimon from the corner of his eye. “I know I’ve had bruised ribs before,” Takeru told him as he walked over to stand beside Taichi. He wasn’t going to sit down because he doubted he could stand back up again without problems.

“Yamato is worried about you,” Taichi commented as he looked up from his book at Takeru. Takeru looked at him wondering if he would clarify, but Taichi didn’t.

“Yeah well who can blame him Kitsumon is trying to kill me,” Takeru pointed out, but he had a feeling that wasn’t what Yamato was worried about or Taichi wouldn’t have mentioned it. It was rare for Taichi to interfere between the two brothers unless one of them did something big enough to get the other really mad at them and that was rare. More so then between Taichi and Hikari at any rate, but that was mainly due to the fact they weren’t in the same apartment. Not that Taichi lived at home anymore, but still.

Taichi set the book down on top of his bag then stood up and stretched before walking over next to Agumon. “He’s more worried about how much more of this you can take,” Taichi told him as he placed his hands on top of the concrete wall that reached about waist high and leaned his weight slightly onto his hands so he could look down. Unlike at the school there was no fence here to keep people from jumping off, but then again Takeru had a feeling that the roof was only unlocked to allow access to Taichi. It was the hospitals way to show that they supported the Chosen Children since Taichi could have gotten up here with or without their approval.

“So am I,” Takeru admitted his voice soft. He didn’t think he had spoken up loud enough for Taichi to hear, but the fact that the older Chosen Child glanced over his shoulder at him his face showing his worry proved him wrong.

Taichi sighed and looked over the edge again. “I don’t understand the two of you…” Taichi muttered before he turned around and faced Takeru. “If you’re so worried about it then why hide it from Yamato? You should know by now that even if you do hide it he’ll figure it out! If one of you would just be truthful to the other once in awhile the two of you wouldn’t have to face your burdens alone!” Taichi told him and shook his head slightly.

 _What burdens does Yamato have?_ Takeru couldn’t help but wonder but instead aloud he said, “I don’t want to worry him.”

Taichi rolled his eyes at that comment. “He’s your brother! If anyone in our group has a right to worry about you its him! Besides hiding it from him obviously doesn’t make him feel any better. Like I said you can’t easily hide your emotions from him since he’s a master of it himself and knows what to look for. I swear you two seem to think the other is going to shatter if you just depend on each other a little bit more. I mean you don’t seem to be having troubles admitting it to me why the heck do you have troubles admitting it to him?”

Takeru thought over what Taichi had said for a moment as he glanced across the roof and into the heart of the city. He already knew the answer, but he wasn’t sure if Taichi would believe his reasoning. “I’m afraid of what he might do… I know Yamato is no longer stupid enough to go off on his own to try to fix his own problems but I can’t say the same when it comes to helping me. Who’s to say that if Yamato was afraid I was at my breaking point he wouldn’t drop everything he’s doing and try to hunt Kitsumon down on his own? Or even worse manage to drag you, his best friend, along with him getting the both of you in trouble? I _can’t_ allow something like that to happen!” Takeru told him. If something like that really did happen that would really be his breaking point. He was close to his friends, very close Taichi and Hikari being those he was closest to. Even now he still saw Taichi like an older brother. He knew Taichi would help his brother with no thought of his own safety. That was just the way those two where.

“I’d stop him –“ Taichi began but Takeru cut him off.

“Could you really? I seem to recall a few times where you couldn’t! Put yourself in his place and Hikari in mine! Would you let anyone stop you if it meant saving your little sister?” Takeru shouted. He was angry now but whether it was at himself or Taichi he didn’t know. He could also feel both Patamon and Agumon looking at him, but he didn’t care. He clinched his fists tightly and shouted, “I would rather hand myself over to Kitsumon now then let the two of you do something as stupid as that!”

“If you do that you’d be causing the very thing you don’t want happening!” Taichi snapped at him.

“Then what am I supposed to do?” Takeru snapped back as he glared at Taichi wondering just what type of plan he had if any.

Taichi looked to the side hands on hips as he sighed then he turned to look at Takeru again a half-hearted smile on his face. “Well for one thing stop shouldering everything on your own. It will also help if you remember that if anyone gets hurt while this is going on it’s not your fault,” Taichi told him.

“I’m _not_ shouldering everything on my own! Otherwise I would be trying to protect everyone while fighting at the same time!” Takeru argued as he glanced away.

“At least you didn’t argue against it not being your fault,” Taichi pointed out.

Takeru rolled his eyes as he looked at Taichi again. “I’m not that far gone yet. That would be like Kohana-chan blaming herself for what Shaitanmon did last time.”

“But you are to think sacrificing yourself in an attempt to stop something that may or may not happen is a good idea? I never realized that your belief in Hope was as small as that,” Taichi said causing Takeru to glare at him.

“You still haven’t told me something new that I am not already doing,” Takeru said crossing his arms across his chest as he shifted most of his weight to one leg. When Taichi didn’t say something right off the bat he arched an eyebrow and asked, “Well?”

“Does Yamato realize you can be this much of a brat?” Taichi asked but it wasn’t a serious question that was obvious by the tone he had said it in. “Just remember one thing Takeru; your brother isn’t a little kid anymore. He isn’t going to do something stupid without thinking it through because he knows what type of consequences his careless actions can bring about. I thought you of all people would know that.”

Takeru glanced down at the ground realizing Taichi was right. His fear that Yamato or even Taichi would do something stupid really was comparing the two of them to their past selves. They had learned from past mistakes, but that also didn’t mean they wouldn’t make new ones which was what Takeru feared. He actually had that fear for all his friends and in turn they probably worried about him.

He heard footsteps approach him and looked up as Taichi stopped a couple of feet away from him. ”Have some faith in you brother Takeru. Being the older one he feels it’s his responsibility to protect you, but he also knows that doing something that only causes you more problems won’t help anything. Besides it isn’t only me anymore that will make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid. He has Sora for that now as well and you know how she can be,” Taichi told him his tone soft and Takeru slowly nodded his head in agreement with what Taichi had said.

The two of them stood there in silence for awhile before Taichi finally asked him, “So feel better now?”

Takeru blinked wondering what he meant then he realized what was going on. Taichi had goaded him into this argument and Takeru had let him. It was just proof he really was feeling the strain of what was going on that he hadn’t realized what Taichi was doing sooner. He had seen him do it often enough with his brother when they were younger.

The truth was he did feel a bit better. Taichi had made him realize how stupid some of his fears where which helped him feel calmer. So Takeru nodded his head causing Taichi to grin. “Good!” Taichi told him then his face turned serious for a moment. “But don’t you _ever_ think of handing yourself over to Kitsumon again!” Takeru nodded again and Taichi patted him on the shoulder before he walked off to go join Agumon.

“Taichi… Thanks,” Takeru told him as Patamon flew over to him landing on the ground beside Takeru.

Taichi turned to look at him a grin on his face again. “Hey I gotta be useful somehow, don’t I?” Taichi told him and Takeru smiled.

“Yeah you do, but I’d much rather you made sure Yamato doesn’t do something stupid then let me rant at you,” Takeru told him.

“Like I said don’t worry so much about him Takeru. He’s smart enough to know that any action he takes in anger will only cause more problems for us later on. Just make sure _you_ don’t do anything stupid,” Taichi warned him and Takeru nodded his head once again. Then when Taichi turned back to watching Takeru headed back for the stairs deciding to head back to his room for now Patamon following him.

He paused for a moment after he had gone down a few steps causing Patamon to stop at the head of them. Takeru placed a hand on his heart as he thought how cracks had appeared throughout his hope. He frowned slightly at the thought as he let his hand fall back to his side. “Takeru?” Patamon questioned causing Takeru to turn to look at him.

The small Digimon was watching him closely. Obviously Patamon had not realized just how far Kitsumon had pushed him until his little argument with Taichi. Patamon was worried about him and Takeru couldn’t blame him. He smiled softly at him and said, “Don’t worry Patamon I’m fine.” This caused Patamon to smile as Takeru turned back around and continued to head down the stairs.

 _Once something is broken and fixed it only becomes stronger,_ Takeru reassured himself as he descended the stairs, but then he frowned as another thought flashed through his mind, _It could also make it weaker though…_ Which one was it for him?

-X-

The next morning when Takeru got up and his mother had arrived a doctor came to talk to them again about what Takeru could and could not do due to his bruised ribs. The nurse that was with him helped Takeru into the brace they had told him about then Takeru was allowed to change into his school uniform except with a new shirt since the last one had been ruined thanks to Kitsumon. He was then released from the hospital and his mother dropped him off at school. He didn’t really get a chance to talk to his friends before class started because he barely had enough time to make it to class without being late.

The doctor had given him a piece of paper he was supposed to give the nurse during lunch break since she would be giving him some medicine to help keep the pain and inflammation down during the afternoon. So when lunch came he had to forgo talking to his friends again in favor of heading to the nurse’s office. By the time he had come back to the classroom Patamon was there waiting for him at his desk.

Takeru walked over to the desk and opened the bento’s up so the two of them could eat. “How do you feel today Takeru-kun?” Kohana asked as Hikari, her and their Digimon walked over to join them.

“Better, but it still hurts,” he answered then asked, “Where are Daisuke and Ken?” He had just noticed the two of them weren’t in the classroom.

“Since we wouldn’t let Daisuke pick a fight with Aiden for saving Kitsumon he challenged him to a soccer game instead. Ken’s on Daisuke’s team so the three of them are out on the field right now,” Hikari answered. “At least it’s better than Daisuke getting suspended during the second month of school.

“How did you guys even managed to stop him? Normally if Daisuke’s going to punch someone no one but Taichi can stop him,” Takeru wondered thinking back to a few times Hikari had to call her older brother to stop the younger goggle head. It was rare that he got that upset at someone but it still did happen occasionally.

Hikari smiled a bit. “I’m not sure how, but it was Ken who did it. When he realized what Daisuke intended to do upon seeing Aiden he dragged him out of the class to talk to him. When the two came back in Daisuke issued the challenge to a soccer game,” Hikari told him knowing it wasn’t really fair on Aiden’s part since both Ken and Daisuke where in the soccer club, but then again after what he did she really didn’t care at the moment. Besides it wasn’t like he would get hurt in the game unless some accident happened.

“To bad we couldn’t solve everything with a soccer game. Since so many of you know how to play it winning wouldn’t be that hard. Especially if Taichi and Daisuke where on the team at the same time,” Tailmon said and the others nodded in agreement.

Daisuke, Ken and Aiden along with a couple of other classmates came back right before the bell rang. It was easy to figure out who had won by the way Daisuke was grinning, but it was obvious that Aiden didn’t really care. Still at least the game served the purpose of keeping Daisuke from doing something he would most likely regret later on when he got in trouble.

After school had ended for the day Kohana and Takeru waited in the class for the other clubs to get out so they could head home. Kohana was drawing something in her sketch book while Takeru was copying yesterday’s notes from Ken’s notebook. Aiden was there as well working on homework an English/Japanese dictionary sitting on his desk. The desk behind him and beside him where occupied by his two Digimon who learned upon coming to pick Aiden up that he wasn’t ready to leave.

Suddenly there was a loud crashing noise that caused Kohana to jump along with Patamon, who had almost been asleep, and Takeru to glance around the room trying to figure out what had made the noise. As for Tsumon he ignored it for the most part. It didn’t take long for Takeru to realize that Aiden had thrown some of his notes at the chalk board since he was now going to retrieve them from where they had landed.

“I don’t get why you’re trying so hard since at the end of this you’ll be going back home any way,” Tsumon commented.

Aiden ignored his comment as he picked up his notes causing Takeru to ask, “You are going home right?” Aiden looked at him before returning to his desk still not saying anything. Takeru realized then that Aiden had no plan of returning. “What about your family?”

“If you want me to answer then get over here and help me,” Aiden grumbled as he returned to working on his school work not really expecting one of them to help him. So when he heard a chair move and realized, of all people, it was Takeru getting up he was surprised. Just what did he have to do before they would leave him alone completely? Takeru ended up walking over to the desk in front of Aiden’s turning the chair around before sitting down on it.

“Alright I’ll help,” Takeru said glancing at just what Aiden was working on noticing it was an assignment from their Japanese History class. “What exactly are you having troubles with?”

“Reading the questions for one thing,” Aiden told him which explained the presence of the dictionary when he was working on history. It also explained a few other things that Takeru had noticed about Aiden such as how slow he was at writing. Aiden might have been able to speak Japanese fluently, but he had trouble reading and writing it since Takeru saw that his notes where written in English.

So Takeru read aloud the question Aiden was currently on and while Aiden answered it he spoke, “The only family I had was my grandmother who died about two years ago from old age. I don’t really know what happened to my parents exactly but because I have Black Gabumon and Black Agumon I wasn’t really all that concerned about finding a new place or a family to live with. So after my grandmother’s funeral I stayed at her place for the most part.”

“For the most part?” Takeru questioned before reading off another question since Aiden had finished answering the first one.

“People in my world aren’t willing to trust someone who has Digimon, but they made an acceptation in my case because I was born there and so they saw me grow up. Still it was obvious they would had preferred I had moved on after grandma died so whenever I could I’d go exploring with Black Agumon and Black Gabumon,” Aiden told him.

“How did you meet Kitsumon?”

“Ask something else if you want an answer because I’m not answering that one.”

“Alright how did you learn to speak Japanese?” Takeru asked then read off another question for Aiden.

“Lots of hard work on my part, but from books and things Kitsumon brought to me. It helped I already knew how to speak two languages since my grandmothers native tongue wasn’t English like the villagers was,” Aiden answered him as he wrote out the answer. It was slow working like this, but it made Takeru wonder just how he managed to turn homework in on time with how long it seemed to take him on his own. If they had actually been friends Takeru would have asked Kohana if she could help Aiden, but as of what happened the other day there was no chance he would ask her.

Since Takeru couldn’t think of anymore questions to ask him that Aiden would be willing to answer Takeru just continued to read the questions for him. By the time they were done the clubs had gotten out. Before Daisuke and the others could arrived at the classroom Aiden packed his stuff up as quickly as he could. It was obvious he knew Daisuke wasn’t very happy with him and he was not going to take a chance of something happening while still at school. Then him and his Digimon headed for the door pausing a second at the door. “You won’t have to worry about Kitsumon for at least today and tomorrow since his healing won’t be finished just yet,” Aiden told them.

“Why do you keep telling us things like this?” Patamon asked as Takeru walked over to his desk to get his things together in the old school bag he was using until he bought a newer one.

Aiden stood there for a moment thinking over Patamon’s question then he shrugged and said, “I don’t know,” then he continued on his way.

When Daisuke and the others arrived they all walked home together since Takeru was supposed to rest after school thanks to his bruised ribs. Tokamon was quite happy to see Patamon and Takeru when they got home and the young Digimon proceeded to convince them to watch his favorite movie with him after they had eaten dinner. Of course it was a children’s movie with his personality but it was nice that after they had watched it one time through he didn’t try to get them to watch it again. Instead he got Patamon to play a game with him while Takeru went to try and get some of his homework done as well as finish copying Ken’s notes so he could return the notebook to him.

He stopped half way through a sentence and thought over what Aiden had told him about Kitsumon. He really didn’t understand why Aiden would tell them something like that and obviously by his answer Aiden had given him he didn’t know either. This wasn’t be the first time he had done something like this and most likely it wouldn’t be the last, but Takeru couldn’t help wondering just why Aiden was helping Kitsumon. The whole thing about not trusting humans didn’t make much sense to him as well since Aiden had seemed to have a semi-normal life on his world. Of course Aiden might have not told him everything and now Takeru had time to think on it he had a lot more questions he wanted to ask him.

The thing was if Kitsumon was injured and wouldn’t be healed until sometime tomorrow it might be safe for Takeru to sleep. There was one problem with this though. Injuries didn’t seem to stop him from manipulating dreams. At least it hadn’t when he was Shaitanmon, but he also knew from what Kohana had told him about that time it wasn’t actually Kitsumon’s personality that had done it. It had been Tsumon’s and Kitsumon later took advantage of it, but would he still do it? Since the power to use the key came from Trace and not Kitsumon himself there was a good chance of it since Kitsumon’s healing wouldn’t be affected if he did use it.

He really hated this, having to debate with himself every night on whether or not it was safe enough to sleep. He was also always worried that something would happen to one of his friends or family members because of what was going on. He was afraid that sooner or later he might have some type of panic attack or just plain break down which was something he didn’t want happening because he knew it was something Kitsumon was aiming for.

The years of being a Chosen Child had taught him just as long as he believed they could beat Kitsumon then at some point they would. It was a hard thing to so anytime he thought they wouldn’t beat him he always mentally chewed himself out reminding himself of one particular battle, the one with Piemon. It was a great example of what could happen as long as he didn’t give up.

Takeru sighed and leaned back in his chair staring up at the ceiling while resting his arms against his stomach. Still no matter how much he reassured himself he couldn’t help, but worry. He was just glad that so far he was the only one who had been badly injured, but he had a feeling it wouldn’t stay that way. Of course there would be nothing he really could do to stop his friends from being hurt since he couldn’t even protect himself, but he wish he could. It was hard seeing Patamon fight all the time and all he could do was stand there and watch it.

With a shake of his head Takeru sat up straight again and began working on copying the notes again resigning himself to the fact that right now there really was nothing he could do except to keep believing even if it was getting harder as time went on…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N – hmm a little iffy on the scene between Taichi and Takeru even after editing it like three different times, but I felt bad that the goggle head wasn’t getting much appearance time in this so I added it in during the editing process. Also it needed to be done or Takeru really would break sooner or later…


	15. Chapter Fifteen Something Else to Worry About

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copy righted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it’s Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copyright for it.

_Takeru sighed and leaned back in his chair staring up at the ceiling while resting his arms against his stomach. Still no matter how much he reassured himself he couldn’t help, but worry. He was just glad that so far he was the only one who had been badly injured, but he had a feeling it wouldn’t stay that way. Of course there would be nothing he really could do to stop his friends from being hurt since he couldn’t even protect himself, but he wish he could. It was hard seeing Patamon fight all the time and all he could do was stand there and watch it._

_With a shake of his head Takeru sat up straight again and began working on copying the notes again resigning himself to the fact that right now there really was nothing he could do except to keep believing even if it was getting harder as time went on…_

Takeru sat on the edge of his bed the dream catcher Tamiko had given him the other day in his hands his attention focused on it. After he had finished copying Ken’s notes he had looked dream catchers up online having been curious about them ever since the little girl had given it to him. It would be nice if it could really protect him from a Kitsumon nightmare, but he highly doubted that it could. Still, it had been a present so he set it down on the nightstand next to his alarm clock deciding he would hang it up another time for now that would do. He had also decided to try and sleep tonight since he was hoping Kitsumon wouldn’t try anything thanks to his injury.

While he was starring at the dream catcher, Patamon came running into the room and jumped onto the foot of the bed. Takeru turned to look at him wondering why he had run in. “Something wrong?” he asked him.

Patamon quickly shook his head and said, “Nope not really.” He was looking at Takeru with a big smile. If Takeru had to guess he would say Patamon was a bit hyper most likely because of whatever Tokamon and him had been up to in the living room. He had probably only came into the room because his mother had most likely sent Patamon in here before she had gone to bed herself. Of course if Patamon was slightly hyper there was a good chance that Tokamon was as well. He just hoped the two small Digimon calmed down rather quickly. Mainly Tokamon for his mother’s sake even if she didn’t work tomorrow she still needed the sleep.

“Hey Takeru, are we doing anything tomorrow or are we staying at home?” Patamon asked as he jumped onto his pillow so he was closer to Takeru. Of course in order to look at Patamon now Takeru had to turn to where he was now sitting on the bed completely instead of just sitting on the edge.

“We will probably be hanging out at Daisuke’s. He sent an e-mail out inviting everyone over,” Takeru told him having received the e-mail while looking up dream catchers. In reality when Takeru said everyone he really only meant the younger Chosen Children including Kohana since the older ones usually did things together or would be busy with other things. If they all wanted to meet up it usually had to happen someplace other then someone’s home since the group of friends was too large.

Most likely they would be playing video games once they got there since Daisuke had a much larger collection of games then most of them. Most of the time they kept challenging each other to beat each other’s scores on one player games. Depending on what type of game it varied just who got the high score on them. Of course since they were Daisuke’s games he almost always beat everyone else’s scores except on some of the puzzle ones in which Ken usually got the top score. If they were playing a role playing game each person and Digimon got half an hour to do what they wanted on it which meant everyone got one turn usually before they went home for the night. Since they were in the middle of one the last time they had gone to Daisuke’s most likely they would continue that.

Patamon nodded as he stretched. Then he lay down on his pillow thinking for a moment before he spoke, “Takeru I’m worried things are going to turn out worse than they did last time by the time we manage to beat Kitsumon.”

Takeru sighed as he glanced out his window. “I’m worried about that as well,” he admitted as he looked back at Patamon. He just really hoped the two of them where wrong.

“We’ll just have to work harder to make sure no one else gets hurt,” Patamon told him a determined look on his face. Takeru smiled and nodded in agreement though he did not know what more they really could do at this point. Patamon smiled as well and Takeru carefully climbed off the bed and went to turn the light off.

\- X -

He could hear people screaming and explosions in the distance from where he stood in the middle of the street in what he thought was another part of Tokyo then what he was used to, but he wasn’t sure. Something seemed to say that his assumption was wrong, but why would he be any where else? As he looked around, Takeru noticed several skyscrapers had either fallen into themselves or had toppled over and it appeared others would soon be joining them thanks to the damage they had sustained. Smoke and dust filled the sky choking him as he tried to breathe sending him into a coughing fit that left him breathless and being to preoccupied with what was going on he never realized that coughing hadn't hurt. He ended up pulling his shirt over his mouth in an attempt to filter out some of it so he could actually breathe. As he glanced around he heard several gun shots nearby and cries of agony.

“Not Tokyo most likely then unless its gun fire from the police or military… Just where am I and what’s going on?” he asked aloud though his voice was drowned out by all the noise that was around him. He shook his head as he began to head over to where he saw a group of people that were wounded. It didn’t really matter right now because helping people where more important than figuring out what was going on. Later on when things where calmer he'd find out what was going on. He didn’t get very far before he saw someone run past him their Digimon in tow. The two were attacked by another Digimon that was chasing them and Takeru quickly retreated to get out of the range of the attack. The Digimon with the human partner then evolved and easily defeated the Digimon who had attacked them which made Takeru wonder why he hadn't done it before. Takeru was about to take a step forward to try and help the wounded again when the Digimon seemed to go berserk and began randomly attacking things including his human partner.

Takeru watched in shock as the human managed to dodge their own Dgimon’s attack and like him they had a look of shock on their face that quickly turned to confusion as they looked at their Digimon partner. “What’s wrong? Don’t you recognize me?” the person asked their Digimon having to shout in order to be heard over everything. They stood there in disbelief as their Digimon prepared to attack them again.

Takeru turned away not wanting to see what was about to happen. However it didn’t really matter. Every way he turned he could see the same exact thing happening all over the place with different people and their Digimon. Most people didn’t even try to run because the idea of their Digimon actually hurting them wasn’t something they could comprehend and Takeru could understand how they felt. Still he would have ran because staying still and being killed wouldn’t do any good. You couldn’t return your Digimon to normal if you let them kill you.

Of course his body was doing the opposite of what he was thinking because seeing what was going on had been enough to freeze him in his place as he starred in horror. He wanted to run away, he really did not want to see this, but his legs wouldn’t budge no matter how much he wanted them to. An explosion happened close to him and the shock wave from it knocked him off his feet to where he ended up on his back. It snapped him out of the frozen state he was in and he rolled onto his hands and knees lifting his head in time to see an attack coming his way. He would not be able to get away in time, but he still had to try!

Takeru awoke when he fell onto his bedroom floor landing on his side causing him to wince. Still half asleep he quickly untangled himself from his bedding and stood up only stopping his movement once he had backed himself up against the wall near his window. His ribs had protested the quick movement but his heavy breathing was causing the most pain at the moment. He let the back of his head lay against the wall as he slowly slid down into a sitting position closing his eyes. For the moment he concentrated on slowing his breathing. When he noticed that the light had been turned on even with his eyes closed he opened them back up.

Despite the heavy sleeper he was Patamon must have woken up when Takeru had hit the floor and after he had managed to untangle himself since Takeru had made a mess of the blankets and comforters had gone for the light switch. “You okay?” Patamon asked as he flew over to Takeru landing in front of him.

Takeru nodded as he continued to try and calm his breathing down. Since the only pain he felt was from his ribs it had been a normal nightmare. A really messed up, scary as hell nightmare, but still a normal one. “Just a nightmare,” Takeru told him.

“That had to be a _really_ bad nightmare for you to react that way,” Patamon pointed out and Takeru nodded in agreement.

“One I hope I never have again,” Takeru told him as he closed his eyes again. In some ways it was worse than the one about losing Angemon…

Patamon waited until Takeru had calmed down before he asked, “What was it about?”

Takeru looked at him and thought a moment before he answered Patamon. “It doesn’t matter it’s something that will never happen,” Takeru told him with a shake of his head before he carefully stood up. “Let’s go back to sleep,” Takeru told him and Patamon nodded his head. As Takeru straightened the blankets and comforter back out Patamon flew back over to the light switch. When Takeru had finished and had climbed back into the bed Patamon turned the light out and flew over landing on his pillow.

As he laid there in the dark trying to fall back to sleep Takeru could not help but think of the nightmare. He had no idea just where the nightmare could have come from because Takeru had never even thought of a Digimon turning on his partner. Not since the dark rings had been eliminated at least, but that alone would not have caused the Digimon to go berserk like they had in that dream. It was enough to twist his stomach and pray he never had that dream again.

He really knew better, though, then to keep thinking about the nightmare like he was right now. The more he thought about it the bigger chance of it reoccurring when he managed to fall back to sleep, if he managed to that is. So he began to think about random thoughts to distract himself while he tried to go back to sleep. The problem was thoughts about the nightmare just wouldn’t leave him alone and he had to start over distracting himself more than once. After awhile he ended up giving up because nothing was working. He just couldn’t distract himself enough from it the nightmare it had just shocked him too much. With a sigh he found himself wishing he could roll onto his side at the moment instead of being stuck on his back…

Somehow he had managed to fall asleep and not have the nightmare again. He was awoken by loud laughter that was obviously from Tokamon. The white Digimon was obviously very happy about living in the human world. Takeru noted that Patamon had already gotten up before him and figured he was probably playing with Tokamon at the moment. As he yawned Takeru stood up and grabbed some cloths to change into. The shirt he grabbed was a black one with white angel wings on the back of it. On both of its sleeves the shirt had a white holy ring design like what a lot of the holy species Digimon wore with the Digimon code on it being black so it could be seen. On the front was Digi-code that spelled out Holy Digimon. There were a lot of different shirts like this one for different types of Digimon though most didn’t have the holy rings. His mother had gotten this one for him as a Christmas present last year. With it he wore a pair of gray baggy shorts with a black belt to keep them from slipping off him. The darker cloths fit his mode thanks to that nightmare of his.

Once he had dressed even putting the brace on just to be safe he walked out of the room to see Patamon and Tokamon watching a Saturday cartoon lineup. He walked past them unnoticed as he headed for the kitchen. “Good morning Takeru,” his mother told him as he walked in. She was just finishing washing some dishes from hers and the Digimon’s breakfast. “If you want I can make you something as well,” she offered having not made him anything since she hadn’t known when he would wake up.

“No it’s fine I’ll make something,” he told her walking over to the fridge and pulled out an egg, jam, half a tomato, half a cucumber and some iceberg lettuce. He also grabbed a piece of bread out of the bread box and put it in the toaster. Then he retrieved the frying pan his mother used earlier along with a spatula and cracked open the egg letting the entire inside of it fall into the pan. He turned the oven on keeping it low so he could prepare everything else then threw the eggshell away. The teen grabbed a small bowel and tore some leaves off the lettuce putting it in the bowel. Then he retrieved a cutting board and knife cutting a slice off the tomato then a couple of slices off the cucumber putting them in the bowel as well.

When the egg was ready he used the spatula to flip it then put the tomato and cucumber back into the fridge grabbing the orange juice before closing it. By then the toast was done so he pulled it out and spread some of the jam on it setting it down on a small plate he retrieved. He then poured some orange juice into a cup and put both it and the jam back up in the fridge. When the egg finished cooking he scoped it out of the frying pan and put it onto of the toast. He turned the stove off then wiped the frying pan out putting it back up then cleaned everything else he had used since his mother had finished while he was cooking before carrying his breakfast out to the table to eat it.

When he had finished eating he took the dishes back into the kitchen and washed them up. Then he took some of the medicine the hospital gave him before heading into the living room. His mother had taken over the television by then in order to watch what she wanted and the two Digimon sat beside her as well watching it. “Mom is it alright if Patamon and I go to Daisuke’s apartment today?” Takeru asked. Even though he had already told Patamon they would be going last night he realized this morning he had forgotten to actually ask if he could.

“Is your homework done?” she asked looking at him.

“No, it isn’t, but I’ll be able to finish it tomorrow since they didn’t assign much for the weekend,” he told her which was the truth. He really hoped nothing did because the idea of explaining to his very surly History Teacher that he had helped someone else get their homework done Friday then spent Saturday playing games with his friends only to have Sunday filled with whatever trouble Kitsumon or Aiden caused would not be fun. Especially since it was Aiden who he had helped with the history homework in the first place. If he didn’t finish for some reason most likely he would end up having to do some type of after school thing to make up the homework and if Aiden was the cause of it being late he was never helping him with his homework again.

“Alright then I’m assuming you’re going over with Miyako and Iori?” she asked and he nodded.

“Yep, once they're ready to go we’ll head on over there since both of them usually wake up earlier then I do,” Takeru answered before heading into his room to retrieve his D-3, D-terminal, wallet, cell phone and his apartment key just to be safe. The wallet went into his back pocket while the D-3 and D-terminal went into a button pocket near his knee on his shorts. His key went into a hip pocket followed by his cell phone after he sent a text to Miyako and Iori asking them if they were ready. He also grabbed a game he had borrowed from Daisuke before this entire mess had started figuring it would be best to return it and borrow it again later when he actually had time to sit down and play it.

He had barely stepped into the hallway when he got a reply from the two of them saying they were ready. Takeru leaned into the living room and said, “Come on Patamon time to go.”

Patamon nodded and hopped onto the floor following Takeru to the door where he put his boots on. He then went outside and on the way down the stairs he ran into Iori and Miyako. Since Patamon still couldn’t ride on Takeru’s head or shoulders without causing him some pain the small Digimon ended up perching on top of Iori’s head with his permission. Then the three of them walked to Daiskue’s apartment.

\- X -

A couple of hours later had Takeru taking a turn on the role playing game leveling up since Daisuke and V-mon on their turns had rushed through as fast as they could through a part of the storyline making them under leveled despite Hikari’s and Tailmon’s efforts in leveling as well. At the rate it was going when it come to Patamon’s turn he was most likely going to have to level as well. Just how they always managed to do this Takeru didn’t understand. It made him wonder just how they managed to get through the games on their own. “Come on continue with the story already,” V-mon whined getting bored watching Takeru leveling.

“Maybe this will teach you not to rush through it so quickly,” Takeru said looking over his shoulder at the Digimon. Leveling wasn’t exactly his favorite thing to do either, but he wasn’t as bad about it as those two. At least with the half hour limit he never had to worry about getting annoyed at it.

“I wouldn’t have if I knew it was going to result in this much leveling,” V-mon admitted as he got up to go get something to eat.

Daisuke’s ring tone went off then and he stood up so he could fish his cell phone out of his pockets then he walked into the hallway to answer it. A beeper went off signifying the end of Takeru’s turn and he set the controller down in front of Patamon since it was too big for him to hold it easily enough while pushing buttons quickly as the game sometimes required. The small Digimon decided to head into town after finishing the battle Takeru was in to go find new equipment as well as seeing if there were any new marks to hunt down since it wouldn’t interfere with the main story while helping the characters to level up. It was also more interesting then random leveling.

“Hey guys it was Koushirou who just called. He says there is a Digimon rampaging on a market street near his place that he needs help with,” Daisuke told them as he walked back into the living room. As everyone began to head towards the door to get their shoes on Patamon quickly saved the game and shut the system down as well as the television before he went to join them.

It took them a bit to reach the market street that Koushirou had told them about. Tentomon had evolved to his Perfect form Atlur Kabuterimon and would have been trying to defend others from getting hurt if it wasn’t for two unexpected Digimon; Black War Greymon and Black Metal Garurumon. The Two Digimon where taunting the Digimon, Flymon, into attacking them, but were not attacking them back. The Flymon didn’t exactly look like ones they had seen before with its wings being black, but it was still distinguishable as Flymon. “What’s going on?” Iori asked when they found Koushirou. There was a young man standing next to him and a few feet away from them was Aiden.

“We’re not sure. His Digimon suddenly evolved to his adult stage and went berserk. That kid Aiden happened to be here and before I knew it his two Digimon had evolved and was taunting Flymon into attacking them,” Koushirou explained pointing to the young man standing beside him. It explained why the two Digimon weren’t attacking back, but what worried Takeru was the two of them were showing signs of damage. A newly evolved adult Digimon shouldn’t have been able to put even a scratch on their armor let alone the amount of damage they had taken.

“Do you know what may have caused this?” Ken asked and Koushirou quickly shook his head.

“No I have no idea.”

Suddenly Flymon unleashed a large attack firing it at Black Metal Garurumon. The Digimon didn’t attempt to dodge it afraid of what would happen to those around him if he did so instead he took the attack head on. Much to everyone’s shock the attack forced him down to Black Gabumon. “Shit!” Aiden shouted as he began running over to his Digimon. “Help would be nice!” he shouted over his shoulder before he reached Black Gabumon.

Patamon quickly hopped off Iori’s head and evolved to Seraphimon while Tailmon moved away from the group so she could evolve to Ofanimon. Both Wormmon and V-mon also moved forward so they could evolve to Paildramon then further to Imperial Dramon switching to their Fighter Mode. The newly evolved Digimon then went to help Black War Greymon in attempt to keep the Digimon from harming others while the rest of the Digimon armored evolved to try and block any random attacks that might occur. Tsumon stayed back due to the warning Trace had given him about evolving to many times during a day. If things became too much for the armor Digimon to deal with then he would evolve to his Perfect form.

Aiden ran back to them carrying Black Gabumon in his arms. Hikari walked over to him looking at Black Gabumon with concern. He was unconscious and had several burns on his body as well as scratches. Takeru’s face paled slightly as he watched the Digimon’s rampaging reminding him of the nightmare he had last night. It made him wonder if it was now a mere coincidence or not that he had it. “Do you have any idea what’s going on?” Takeru asked turning to look at Aiden. He could see Kohana glance at him from the corner of his eye for a moment and her expression turned to concern most likely thanks to his reaction to what was going on. She was probably worried it was due to his ribs more than anything else.

Aiden’s attention was focused on the Digimon for a moment but he did glance at Takeru before turning to Flymon’s partner. It was obvious by the look on Aiden’s face he did know something Takeru was certain about that now. “Has he ever evolved before?” Aiden asked him.

“No, never, this is the first time,” the young man answered him keeping his attention on his Digimon. Aiden glanced at Hikari for a moment before handing Black Gabumon over to her, much to her shock, knowing she was lease likely to do something to him. He then walked over to the young man while Hikari adjusted her hold on the Digimon. He wasn’t exactly light…

“Show me your Digivice,” Aiden told him and the young man nodded pulling his Digivice out of his pocket. To everyone’s shock it was actually turning to stone. Upon seeing it Aiden’s face paled his eyes widening slightly. “Shit, this can’t be happening,” he said then ran back over to Hikari and pulled out his blue Digivice.

“What’s going on?” she asked as Aiden held it out towards Black Gabumon and pushed a button causing the Digivice to scan him.

“Something very, very bad,” Aiden answered her as the screen flashed green ignoring the fact she obviously didn’t like the vague answer she had gotten. Aiden stuffed the Digivice back into his pocket. “He doesn’t have it so that leaves… Black War Greymon get down here now!” he shouted turning to look at his Digimon as he pulled the red Digivice out of his pocket a slight panic in his voice. Whatever was going on Aiden did not like it one bit.

Black War Greymon turned to look at him and hearing the panic in his voice he flew down landing in front of Aiden after everyone had moved out of his way. Aiden held the red Digivice out to him and pushed the same button he had pushed on the blue one causing it to scan Black War Greymon. Unlike with Black Gabumon the screen flashed red causing Aiden to curse again.

“Would you please explain what is going on?” Koushirou asked him as calmly and politely as he could as he walked over to him.

Before he answered him Aiden pushed another button on his Digivice which forced Black War Greymon to devolve back down to Black Agumon. “Black Agumon has managed to spread a type of virus without meaning to. It had a tendency to attack Digimon that are close to evolving and forces them to evolve. Once they do they lose control like that,” Aiden explained pointing to Flymon.

“Is there some way to fix him?” Miyako asked looking at Flymon. Aiden pushed a couple of buttons on the Digivice causing Black Agumon to glow for a moment. When the glow had vanished the screen on his Digivice flashed green.

“If your Digimon can hold him still long enough for either one of my Digivices to scan him it’ll cure him of the virus,” Aiden said turning to look at them.

“Alright, then Imperial Dramon, Seraphimon and Ofanimon try to capture him alright?” Daisuke shouted up at them.

“Just how do you expect us to do that?” Imperial Dramon shouted back down at him as he blocked an attack from Flymon. “We have our hands full just trying to keep him from hitting someone!”

“I don’t know just do it!” Daisuke shouted back at him then he blinked and turned to look at Takeru. “Couldn’t Pegasmon and Nefertimon do it?” he asked.

“They can try,” Takeru answered him, “But can Imperial Dramon hold him off long enough for them to switch evolutions?”

“He’s going to have to,” Ken said keeping an eye on the battle.

“Alright then, Ofanimon change to Nefertimon!” Hikari shouted up at Ofanimon once again adjusting her hold on Black Gabumon. At least he wasn’t as big as Gabumon if he was she probably wouldn’t be able to hold him very long.

“You to Seraphimon! Switch to Pegasmon!” Takeru shouted.

“I think I understand what they want,” Ofanimon told Seraphimon and he nodded in agreement.

“Just hurry up and do it!” Imperial Dramon shouted at them while he drew Flymon’s attention to himself. Seraphimon devolved down to Patamon then armored evolved to Pegasmon while Ofanimon also devolved down to Tailmon and quickly evolved to Nefertimon before she actually fell to the ground.

“Sanctuary Bind!” the two Armor Digimon shouted as a rope of golden light appeared between the two of them. They flew at Flymon and wrapped him up in the rope several times. The two Digimon then had to fight to pull him down to where Aiden was doing it as fast as they could afraid that Flymon would snap the rope at any moment. When they had him fairly close to the ground Aiden rushed over holding his red Digivice towards it so it could scan him. It took a moment, but the screen flashed green at the same time Flymon devolved down to Kunemon.

The small insect Digimon glanced back and forth between Pegasmon and Nefertimon very confused. “What’s going on?” he asked as his partner ran over to him and picked him up.

“He doesn’t remember?” the young man asked turning to look at Aiden.

“Remember what?” Kunemon shouted having a very short temper since it was normal for him it caused his partner to smile glad that he was back to normal.

“No it’s kinda like a computer being rolled back to get rid of a virus, but with the added bonus of him never being able to catch it again,” Aiden explained to him with a slight shrug.

“Thank you, I thought – No never mind what I thought thank you for helping him,” he told Aiden bowing to him then he turned to the others and bowed as well. Aiden ignored him for the most part as he walked over to Takeru and held out his blue Digivice out to him.

“Here, we need to scan the other Digimon around here and make sure they aren’t infected. The only ones we really have to worry about are those who haven’t evolved to adult yet, but you’re Digimon and others could carry it so make sure to scan them as well,” Aiden told him as Takeru took the Digivice from him. He then showed Takeru what buttons he needed to push to start the scan then the ones to press in order to cleanse the virus out of the Digimon. Aiden and Takeru then spent an hour scanning the various Digimon in the area finishing up with the Chosen Children. No one else showed signs of the virus which Takeru was glad for. When they were done Takeru returned the Digivice to Aiden who then took Black Gabumon back from Hikari much to her relief.

“Since none of your Digimon has it I doubt you have to worry about the others in your group having it,” Aiden told them as Black Agumon walked over to him.

“How come we haven’t encountered something like this before?” Iori asked Aiden.

Aiden looked down at the ground for a moment. It was obvious to Takeru he didn’t want to answer the question, but he did any way, “That’s because it’s man made and only something that originates on my world. Your Digimon would only be infected with it because they where there, but I didn’t think they could because it was wiped out several years before you showed up. It’s just one of the many reasons I don’t trust humans.”

“If it’s been wiped out how come Black Agumon had it and why didn’t if affect him?” Hikari asked looking at the Digimon then back to Aiden.

Aiden looked up at her. “I don’t know how he had it. As a precaution since I never knew for certain it actually was wiped out I had been scanning them once a month to make sure they didn’t somehow carry it. Nothing ever turned up… As to why it didn’t affect him as I told Takeru it only harms Digimon who had yet evolved to their adults stage and Black Agumon obviously has plus the Digivice’s I have automatically make them immune to it. It’s the reason everyone thought it was wiped out because a few days after it had been introduced to Digimon all the Digivice’s changed from what yours look like to what mine now do,” Aiden explained to them.

“The virus… It affects Digimon before they evolved to their adult stage… If your world was anything like ours then…” Takeru said his face paling not wanting to finish the thought as images from his nightmare flashed through his mind.

“It infected almost every Digimon on the world except those connected to the Chosen Children on our world,” Aiden finished for him. “As for what happened to them… Well with the only none berserk Digimon that even stood a slight chance against those who had gone berserk they tried to stop what was going on obviously. They failed and it cost them their lives. Every single last one of them died before the Digivices changed,” Aiden told them in an emotionless voice though his faced showed Takeru just how much it pained him to talk about it.

“Then those ruins…?” Miyako asked him not sure if she wanted to hear the answer.

“Is what is left of the towns the Digimon wiped out. All the major cities where hidden by Kitsumon because he didn’t want you to see them. The ruins you found he messed with to make it seem like something from medieval times him and his stupid mind games. Most other towns are hidden using special means to keep people like you from finding them since almost everyone who had any Digimon left and went to live in the Digital World connected to mine and sealed it shut behind them from what I know of,” Aiden answered him.

“If you’re not a Chosen Child how come your Digimon can evolve so high?” Ken asked trying to figure everything out now that Aiden seemed willing to answer their questions.

“I never said I wasn’t one, but with what I said I can see why you would think I’m not. That whole being wiped out thing? It happened when I was about five. My Digimon where spared from the virus by one thing and one thing only… They were still in their eggs I kinda got them later then I was supposed to, lucky me. To answer your question though, well your older friends the one with Digimon similar to mine and the others could be considered First Generation Chosen Children while you and most of the ones here could be called Second Generation. I’m considered Third Generation and the only one as far as I know since the few Digimon I’ve seen can’t evolve past their adult sage. If there are anymore they're most likely in the Digital World doing who knows what,” Aiden answered him with a slight shrug.

Takeru thought about what Aiden had told him when he was helping him with his homework realizing he hadn’t been entirely honest with him. “Your parents… Where they Chosen Children?” Takeru asked causing everyone to look at Aiden. Aiden seemed a bit surprised by the question but he smiled sadly.

“Grandma told me my parents were First Generation. That’s about all I know about them she almost never talked about them just like she never talked about her Digimon I knew she had because every once in awhile I caught her starring at an old style Digivice that had turned to stone. I’m assuming it hadn’t survived what had happened,” Aiden answered as he began walking away. “Maybe someday I’ll show you their crests and armor eggs. All that so called exploring I told you I did were in search of those,” he called over his shoulder.

“Wait how does Kitsumon fit into all of this?” Kohana shouted causing Aiden to pause and turn to look at her a determined look on his face.

“I have no clue, but I plan on finding that one out!” he answered then continued on his way. If he found out Kitsumon was somehow involved in this the others would have to beat him to him because he would kill the bastard fox.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N – Better look into things that might show just how much I change my mind with where this story is supposed to go if you can figure it out what I’m talking about a cookie for you!
> 
> The game that Takeru and the others are playing is Final Fantasy 12 or something similar. According to Wiki it was released over a year ago so I figured it would be a good one to pick in this instance xD. I know I messed up a few times not “leveling” up enough in that game especially when it comes to Cid *glares at him*.


	16. Chapter Sixteen List, Lists and more Lists

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copy righted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it’s Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copyright for it.
> 
> I hope the emotes in the chat between Trace and Takeru show up for everyone. It would kind of suck if they didn't x-x

_Takeru thought about what Aiden had told him when he was helping him with his homework realizing he hadn’t been entirely honest with him. “Your parents… Where they Chosen Children?” Takeru asked causing everyone to look at Aiden. Aiden seemed a bit surprised by the question but he smiled sadly._

“ _Grandma told me my parents were First Generation. That’s about all I know about them she almost never talked about them just like she never talked about her Digimon I knew she had because every once in awhile I caught her starring at an old style Digivice that had turned to stone. I’m assuming it hadn’t survived what had happened,” Aiden answered as he began walking away. “Maybe someday I’ll show you their crests and armor eggs. All that so called exploring I told you I did were in search of those,” he called over his shoulder._

“ _Wait how does Kitsumon fit into all of this?” Kohana shouted causing Aiden to pause and turn to look at her a determined look on his face._

“ _I have no clue, but I plan on finding that one out!” he answered then continued on his way. If he found out Kitsumon was somehow involved in this the others would have to beat him to him because he would kill the bastard fox._

After what Aiden had told them the group of friends no longer felt like playing video games. Something like what they had just learned was hard to fathom and Takeru, let alone anyone in the group, couldn’t understand how anyone could have purposefully made a virus like that. Of course Takeru had a feeling it hadn’t exactly gone as they had planned, but still how could they? Takeru could now understand why Aiden didn’t trust humans after that he, himself, would probably have trouble trusting them. It also explained why even though Aiden had grown up in his hometown why they were cautious of him. They were probably afraid he might retaliate at any moment.

After what had happen Takeru had gone back to his apartment complex with Miyako, Iori, Hikari and Kohana. Daisuke had decided that he was going to tell Taichi what had happened while Ken had gone home. As for Koushirou, he went back to what he was doing before the entire mess had started.

Now Takeru, Hikari and Kohana sat in the living room of the Takaishi apartment with their Digimon along with Trace, Yamato, Rascmon and Gabumon. They were all thinking over what Aiden had said since Takeru, with the help of Hikari and the others, had filled his brother and Trace in on what had happened.

“So he isn’t helping Kitsumon because he wants to hurt you guys he’s helping him because he’s trying to figure out his involvement with what happened on his world?” Trace asked breaking the silence they had been sitting in for the past ten minutes.

“That’s what I got from what he said,” Hikari answered him. “But I wonder why he thinks he’s somehow involved.”

“I don’t know all we know about him is that he comes from that world and nothing more really. Heck I’m not even sure if we can say for certain he _actually_ comes from there just that we assume he is and Aiden seems to think so as well,” Takeru said as he looked at the others. “For all we know he could be tricking all of us into thinking he’s from there.”

“What about what Aiden told you about him bringing those books to him so he could learn Japanese? I don’t think he could have learned to speak and somewhat read and write it in six months like he does. I mean it’s hard to tell that he wasn’t somehow raised to speak Japanese. It probably would have taken him years to get as far as he is,” Kohana pointed out.

“Which doesn’t fit the time line we know unless Kitsumon knew Aiden before this entire mess started,” Yamato said agreeing with what Kohana had said.

“Yes and if that is true it just proves Trace’s theory may be right. After all Kitsumon only managed to get a hold of Trace’s key in October of last year. Someone else had to have helped him to travel here to get the books then back again,” Rascmon said which just made things a bit more depressing then they already were.

“It’ll also help explain some of the things I tried figuring out after the whole mess last year and never got answers to,” Trace added trying his hardest to keep things under wraps since what he had been trying to figure out is just how Tsumon and Calilimon could even be created let alone survive like they did for as long as they had apart. Someone had wanted a Digimon form that could have easily fooled Trace into false sense of security. After all, from what he had known at that point there was only one holy type Digimon that couldn’t be trusted so one suddenly appearing in front of him asking for help made him believe that the Digimon was truly in danger.

It also explained how Calilimon’s mirror could do what it did. After all _no_ normal Digimon should have the ability to travel between realms under their own power. The incident with Belial Vamdemon was just that an incident that had occurred by trying to access a Digital Gate that had been sealed. As for the times Hikari had gone to the Dark Ocean well… It was actually part of the Digital World in some respects. It was where Digimon that Takeru and the others defeated were sealed away to keep them from being reborn. If it wasn’t for the Dark Ocean Digimon like Devimon would be reborn to cause more trouble.

What still was unclear was why target Takeru? Was that something Kitsumon did on his own or did the Law Key holder want to kill him as well? If so why? If you took away the fact he was a Chosen Child and that he had such a powerful Digimon he would be like any other teenager on this planet. There was a chance Trace was just not understanding something that could make Takeru a target. After all he only had a general grasp of things when it came to the Digital World so it wasn’t hard for him to believe that he was missing something.

“Yeah but it still doesn’t explain the reason Kitsumon is trying to kill him,” Yamato pointed out voicing Trace’s thoughts.

“I told you he’s said why he’s doing it. He wants to see what will happen when “Hope” is gone,” Takeru reminded his brother wondering just how many more times he was going to have to tell them what Shaitanmon and then later Kitsumon had told him.

“Yeah, but why? Is there something that will happen once “Hope” is gone or does he just want to see how everyone reacts after he kills you?” Trace asked knowing what Yamato was trying to get at. He may have wanted to kill “Hope”, but just what was the reasoning behind that?

“Is it possible he’s trying to recreate what happened on Aiden’s world,” Hikari began getting everyone to look at her. “Remember Takeru and my Digimon helped Taichi convince the United Nations not to throw all the Digimon back into the Digital World and seal the gates behind them. Not to mention because of everything that has happened we as the Chosen Children and our Digimon are basically, whether we like it or not, the faces of the Digital World. Taichi may have taken on the role to be the representative, but still we will always somehow be part of it. If something were to happen to one of us, someone who had a powerful Digimon that shouldn’t be able to be beaten what’s to say they wouldn’t change their mind? Also if you think about it unlike the rest of the crests Takeru and I are the sole representatives of Light and Hope. If we somehow are killed there is no one else that embodies them unless the Digital World decided to pick new ones which seems weird since it decided not to when it picked Daisuke and the others to represent the other crests.”

“Would something happen to the Digital World if one of you were killed?” Kohana asked.

“I don’t think so since Hikari and I returned our crests to free Qing Longmon so he and the other Holy Beast Digimon could add another layer of protection to the Digital World technically he’s the one that holds the part of Light and Hope for the Digital World. I guess the two of us just represent the human part,” Takeru said not too sure how to explain it himself. All he knew was that each Holy Beast represented two crests and Ken’s somehow didn’t fit into this which was why it was alright that it never had been returned.

“Is it me or does anyone else find it odd that it was arrows from Angemon and Angewomon that made it possible for Gabumon and Agumon to reach their Ultimate stages? Then there is the fact that it was a core from Qing Longmon that made it possible for all of our Digimon to evolve to their perfect stage and higher while also allowing Paildramon to evolve to Imperial Dramon Dragon Mode. To date the only Digimon who have been able to evolve to the ultimate stage on their own are Seraphimon and Ofanimon,” Yamato pointed out.

“Yeah that was something that I didn’t understand,” Patamon said.

“It’s because Light and Hope are more powerful than the other crests. Even Patamon and Tailmon as Ofanimon and Seraphimon can fight evenly with Omegamon and Imperial Dramon Fighter Mode. The two have proven capable of beating Digimon other Digimon at the same level could not such as Angemon beating Devimon when all the other Digimon had failed and Angewomon was able to defeat Vamdemon when once again the others had failed to do so. Also Piemon couldn’t have been defeated it weren’t for the help of Holy Angemon. Not to mention several other cases like this,” Trace told them and the others agreed with him. They did wonder though just how he knew all of that. Takeru had a feeling it had something to do with Krista or Trace had searched for information on the internet about them at some point.

“Still it does not show why he would want to kill Takeru unless Hikari is right, but I doubt with how many people now have Digimon that the United Nations would be able to capture them all,” Gabumon said.

“He has a point I mean most likely if they tried there would be a good chance it could also start a lot of fighting between the government and people with Digimon,” Tailmon said which was something they were trying to avoid. Angry Digimon could cause a lot of damage if they chose to do so.

“I know I wouldn’t let them take Patamon without putting up some type of fight,” Takeru said agreeing with Tailmon. Someone trying to take Patamon from him would be like someone trying to take his brother something he would not let happen.

“Either way I have a feeling we won’t figure it out unless that damn fox Digimon tells us himself or Aiden manages to find out something,” Trace said getting slightly frustrated at this point. The teen didn’t even realize he had curse.

“Yes, but if he does will he tell us?” Rascmon asked and no one was really certain if he would tell them or not so they couldn’t answer him.

::Elsewhere::

Aiden sat on the floor of his single room apartment tending to Black Gabumon’s injuries. The Digimon had woken up on their way home so he was wincing every once in awhile from Aiden cleaning his wounds. “Was it really a good idea to tell them all that you did?” Black Gabumon asked trying to distract himself from what Aiden was doing.

“There is nothing wrong with what I told them,” Aiden said as he set the ointment down and picked up a roll of bandages as so he could wrap the wound up.

“I think he means won’t Kitsumon be mad at you?” Black Agumon asked form the corner he sat in to keep out of Aiden’s way. This apartment really was too small for the three of them, but it was all they could afford with what money Kitsumon gave them without Aiden getting a job. Which he wouldn’t be able to since it was against the schools rules to get one unless it was during break.

Black Gabumon noticed Aiden’s face turned from concentration to anger as he wrapped his injuries. “I don’t give a damn if he’s mad at me or not! He’s the only one who could have infected you with that virus! Like hell am I going to be nice and quiet after he pulled that fucking stunt!” Aiden snapped trying to keep his voice down since the walls were pretty thin here. Neither Digimon were surprised by Aiden’s anger. After all not only had the virus been the cause of his parent’s death along with the deaths of thousands of humans and Digimon, but if that Flymon hadn’t been treated it probably would have spread in this world as well. There was also the fact that once the virus had run its course those infected by it would die if they weren’t already immune to it.

“Aiden what do you think he is planning?” Black Gabumon asked wincing now that Aiden was cleaning another wound.

“With the virus? I think he’s trying to turn humans against Digimon for some type of twisted pleasure or something,” Aiden answered wishing he had something other than rubbing alcohol to do this with. It stung like hell when used which was the reason for Black Gabumon’s wincing.

“And the reason for him attacking Takeru and Patamon?” Black Agumon asked.

“I’ll tell you what he told me; the kid and the flying pig have to die. He’s never explained his reasoning to me,” Aiden told them as he finished up with Black Gabumon’s wounds. He cleaned up the mess he had made then walked over to where Black Agumon was sitting at and sat down beside him leaning back against the wall.

“Are you really going to show them the crests and armor eggs?” Black Gabumon asked as he set down next to Aiden.

“Armor eggs no since they may interfere somehow with the ones they own. It’s why they are in that one box that cost me so much so they don’t do exactly that. The crests I might since they no longer have theirs it shouldn’t really harm anything as long as I keep the ninth one away and don’t ever take them into the Digital World. I mean if they didn’t believe me before they certainly will after they see those,” Aiden explained as he pat the two Digimon on the head. “Any way come on Black Agumon we need to head back out and buy some things if we want any dinner tonight. Black Gabumon you stay here and rest,” Aiden said as he stood up. He fished the blue Digivice out of his pocket and the bracelet that went with it setting it down on the small low table before picking his keys up off it. Black Agumon stood up and the two of them walked towards the door.

::Takeru’s Apartment::

Takeru sighed as he stood up and walked towards his room. “What you’re you doing?” Yamato asked him as his bother walked out of the room.

“Getting a notebook to write down what we know. Maybe it’ll help us figure out just what is going on,” Takeru shouted from his room as he walked over to his desk and pulled a drawer open pulling out a new composition notebook. He then grabbed a pen off of his desk and walked back into the living room sitting back down. He opened it up and pulled the cap off the pen writing Kitsumon on the top margin. “What all do we know about Kitsumon?” Takeru asked.

“He can control illusions and disguise himself to look like others!” Tsumon said glad he could finally do something to contribute to the conversation.

“His claws are covered in a toxic poison that is _really_ harmful,” Patamon added.

“He has my nightmare key which makes it to where he can go anywhere he wants as long as he knows the place and he can manipulate people’s dreams to the point of actually hurting them in it,” Trace said in a none too happy tone of voice.

“He has Digimon willing to work with him,” Rascmon said and Takeru wrote down what they all said one on each new line.

“What else?” Takeru asked looking up from the paper at the others.

“He has Aiden and his Digimon helping him,” Hikari said.

“Kitsumon is also never willing to fight unless he has some type of an advantage over his opponent,” Kohana told him.

“He’s not a Digimon from our Digital World,” Yamato added.

“He has someone helping him from the shadows,” Trace said. Takeru slowly nodded as he wrote it all down.

“He wants to destroy Hope by killing you and Patamon,” Tailmon said.

“He can’t use Trace’s key without draining power from him,” Rascmon said and Takeru looked up after he wrote that down.

“Yeah I’ve been thinking on that couldn’t you just…? I don’t know somehow get rid of all your power so he couldn’t use you as a type of battery?” Takeru asked Trace.

“I thought of doing that as well and talked to Krista about it. She hit me over the head and called me an idiot because if I did that when Kitsumon had no idea that I did that to myself he could end up killing me. I am glad I asked her before doing it because I didn’t know that would happen,” Trace told him.

“So that defiantly isn’t an option,” Takeru said then asked, “Any way what else do we know?”

“He’s willing to go after other people if it means he can get you,” Tsumon said.

“He doesn’t seem to be interested in the Digital World so far that we know of,” Yamato said then added, “Which wouldn’t matter it has too many layers of protection on it now for anyone to really take control over it.”

“His Digital World is sealed from the other side so he only has access to our Digital World,” Tailmon said.

“He’s been here to our world before without causing any trouble,” Kohana said and Takeru continued to write down what they said.

“He has manipulated the ruins of his world to make it appear as if they had no modern-day technology when in actuality they are more advance then we are,” Gabumon said.

“I wonder why he did that,” Tsumon said glancing at the others.

“He was probably trying to make it seem like he didn’t come from there for one reason or another,” Trace said shrugging slightly.

“Yeah, but why? Since you said he couldn’t have gone anywhere, but places he knew then we already could have guessed he came from there even before Aiden basically told us so,” Tsumon told him.

“He has a point,” Rascmon said looking at the child-like Digimon.

“When we ran into Aiden, he seemed to think it was funny we couldn’t find anything. Not to mention the only reason he wouldn’t answer any questions as to what happened there was because thinking about what did happen seem to upset him according to you guys,” Yamato said.

“Maybe he did it so we would waste time searching there instead of just trying to hunt him down,” Gabumon suggested.

“With his personality that wouldn’t surprise me one bit,” Takeru said adjusting how he was sitting slightly so he could hold the notebook in his lap better.

“Maybe you should add that he’s also psychotic to that list of yours,” Trace suggested.

“That was the first thing I wrote,” Takeru told him.

“What about the fact he wouldn’t mind having him as a prisoner?” Yamato asked pointing to Trace.

“Added,” Takeru told him.

“Then how about he can copy other Digimon’s abilities if he wants to?” Patamon asked remembering just where he got the ability to use illusions in the first place by stealing them from Calilimon. Of course he had done so by going to the World of Illusions, but then again he still did it.

“Right I forgot about that one since he did it so long ago,” Takeru said as he wrote it down.

“At least he no longer has that attack that can melt things,” Kohana said very glad that he had lost that attack in his new form.

“Yeah it wasn’t fun trying to avoid it,” Patamon agreed.

“What about him being able to poses other Digimon?” Tsumon asked causing Takeru to pause in what he was writing and everyone turned to look at him.

“What? Kohana told me that he looked like a demon Digimon, but this time he’s from the beast family. Digimon don’t change _that_ much when their reborn they still sort of look like their last form if they take on a new one. So he had to have been in possession of someone else’s body to get that form,” Tsumon said trying to figure out why so many of them seemed surprised by what he had said.

_Then he didn’t somehow remember it,_ Takeru thought as he finished writing what Kohana had said then moved on to what Tsumon had said.

“Then how about the fact he can change his height?” Natsuko asked as she walked in setting a tray of snacks down on the coffee table.

“Now that you mention it…” Takeru started as he looked at his mom. The thought had never really occurred to him, but then again to have fit in the apartment then to be around the same height as Seraphimon later on he really did have to change heights. He wrote it down as well.

“Don’t forget about that black electricity of his,” his mother reminded him thinking about what had happened in her son’s room the first and only time she had seen Kitsumon.

“Defiantly can’t forget that,” Trace muttered running his left hand over his right arm were some burn scars were visible. Natsuko noticed the movement and looked at him.

“He got you to, then?” she asked him.

“Yeah a couple of times,” Trace answered not wanting to go into further detail, though he had a feeling she already knew just what had happened to him.

“Anything else?” Takeru asked.

“Yeah that said black lightening isn’t associated with any attack of his. Every time I got hit with it there was no warning like with other Digimon attacks,” Trace said.

“He’s more powerful than us and a lot faster too,” Patamon added.

“He likes to play mind games,” Trace said in a kind of duh voice.

“He can make things he shouldn’t be able to make,” Kohana said thinking back to when he as Shaitanmon had made a Digivice.

“Alright can anyone think of anything else?” Takeru asked after he had finished writing everything. When nobody said anything he flipped a couple of pages ahead and wrote Aiden’s name in the top margin. “Okay next what we know about Aiden.”

“He’s third generation Chosen Child according to him,” Hikari said.

“He is the only Chosen Child living outside of the Digital World on his world,” Tsumon said wondering why they would have left him behind in the first place.

“He doesn’t trust humans, but doesn’t want to see them get hurt either,” Tailmon added.

“Not to mention he really hates when Digimon are hurt,” Patamon said.

“His two Digimon Black Agumon and Black Gabumon at Omegamon Zwart is more powerful then Omegamon, but he sacrifices speed for that power,” Gabumon said.

“Using energy from Aiden his Digimon can devolve from Omegamon Zwart to Black War Greymon and Black Metal Garurumon then back up to Omegamon Zwart. He uses this to avoid attacks and to make his Digimon be able to move faster since their regular Ultimate stages are faster than the Jogress one,” Kohana said as she glanced at the bracelet she wore. Trace had one now as well that he wore on his left wrist.

“Not to mention his parents were killed thanks to that virus,” Takeru said as he wrote down everything that they had said. It made him think of his dream which he still wondered just where it had came from especially since it happened the day before they learned about the virus.

“Both he and his Digimon are skittish, but he only shows it when they aren’t around,” Yamato said.

“Really?” Hikari asked looking at him.

“Yeah when we ran into him in the Redwood Forest Realm he was nervous though he wasn’t trying to show it. I don’t think Taichi really noticed it,” Yamato told her.

“He’s known Kitsumon for awhile,” Patamon said.

“He’s collected all the crests and armor eggs from his world,” Tsumon said.

“I wonder why he wants us to see those,” Hikari said.

“Maybe something happened to them since the owners were killed?” Trace suggested.

“He can speak Japanese but has troubles reading or writing it,” Kohana said.

“He also seems to know a lot about us,” Takeru said remembering their talk on the roof of the school. It made him wonder if Kitsumon had told him everything he knew about them or if he somehow learned about them some other way. It wasn’t hard to find information about them on the internet, but not everything he knew would be there.

“He appears to only be helping Kitsumon in order to find out just how he was involved with what happened on their world,” Rascmon said.

“He’s most likely the only person on his world with Digimon,” Yamato said.

“Any more?” Takeru asked.

“We really don’t know much about him, but there is one more I can think of. He is the only person we know of that can cure that virus from his world,” Hikari told him.

“Alright then,” Takeru said turning a couple of pages again. This time he wrote Law Key wielder. “Trace what all do you know about the person who holds the Law Key?” Takeru asked.

“That no one really knows just who they are. They are supposed to have a key that like Krista’s has full access to anyone’s realm that are also key holders. They can also strip the power of any key wielder if they chose to, but it’s supposed to happen if they somehow break a law. The holder is also capable of using every single ability that each individual key holder can do making it to where they can easily counter anything anyone can do. No one can enter their realm without their permission so we can’t just somehow stumble onto it. There is also the fact they have some way of making it to where people like Lee can’t find them if they don’t want to be found. That’s about all I know about them,” Trace told him pausing between each sentence to give Takeru time to write them down.

“Does Krista know more?” Takeru asked looking at the meager list.

“If she does she hasn’t told me,” Trance answered. “I think she’s afraid I’d try to hunt them down, but I’m not that stupid.”

“Then that just leaves what we know about the Redwood Forest realm right?” Hikari asked as Takeru flipped a few more pages.

“Yeah that’s right,” Takeru said. After he was done with this one was also going to add a list for Tsumon then another one for Calilimon just in case. He doubted anything about them would really help them with what was going on now, but it wouldn’t hurt.

“Then start it off with the fact it has its own Digital World which of course is sealed,” Yamato said as Takeru wrote down Redwood Forest Realm in the top margin.

“It had a virus released on it that caused all Digimon that had yet to evolve to their adult stage to go berserk. They even attacked their own human partners,” Patamon said and it was obvious by his tone of voice it was hard for him to believe that any Digimon would do that virus or not.

“This resulted in a great loss of life for both humans and Digimon,” Tailmon added.

“Then the Digital World found a way to fight it and it upgraded everyone’s Digivice to counteract the virus, but it took several days before it could do so,” Hikari said.

“Out of anger for what the world’s government had done almost everyone with Digimon went to live in the Digital World sealing it behind them,” Kohana said.

“They now fear retaliation from those who may still live there with Digimon so most of their towns are hidden by special means as Aiden put it,” Rascmon said.

“Heh, we actually know less about that place then we do of Aiden,” Trace noted when he saw everyone was trying to figure out something else to add to the list.

“Kind of feels like we wasted all our time there,” Yamato said before he grabbed some chips.

“Well you tried at least,” Takeru told him as he went over the three lists. Nothing really jumped out at him that he could see so he handed it off to Hikari so she could look at it. After a bit it went around to everyone and no one else really noticed anything either. They talked about it before Kohana and Hikari had to leave because Kohana had promised to be home at a certain time and Hikari was still staying over at her house. Trace went back to the hotel soon after and Yamato left as well since like Takeru he had homework.

Now Takeru sat at his desk the compact notebook open on a page with Calilimon written at the top of it. With a sigh he began writing and much like he had before he wrote one thing per line;

Could create Illusions,

Had the ability to evolve to Ultimate in four years,

Had a mirror that worked a lot like Trace’s key,

Half of her data was missing the other half was in Shaitanmon,

Worked as a means to balance her brother,

Was born a twin when only one Digimon should have been born,

With her data Patamon achieved Seraphimon Guardian Mode,

Wasn’t as susceptible to illusions as everyone else,

Would always evolve to match her brother,

Sacrificed everything to save her brother,

Could be reborn?

Takeru starred at the last thing he had written. He knew as long as some data of a Digimon remained it was quite possible for them to be reborn. Some of her data had been returned to the Digital World when he had gone there in order for the data to be worked out of his body. At least he hoped it had. It should be enough for her to be reborn, but the problem wasn’t the data it was whether or not she was really supposed to exist in the first place.

Takeru sighed and turned the page then another one and on top of the blank page he wrote Shaitanmon instead of Tsumon in case the small Digimon got a hold of this. He also wasn’t going to copy anything he had written in Calilimon’s list because there was no point;

Copied his sister’s ability to use illusions,

Stole Trace’s key,

Was possessed,

Could open portals without using Trace’s Key,

Most likely somehow copied sisters mirror ability,

Was repaired mostly by Calilimon’s data by Seraphimon Guardian Mode,

Still has some damage to his data despite this.

He leaned back in his chair as he tried to think of more things to add to the list. Takeru had a feeling Trace knew more than he did about the two twins, but he hadn’t wanted to ask him while Kohana was here and he didn’t really have the chance to ask him after she had left. Sighing he stood up slightly so he could fish his cell phone out of his pocket and sent a text off to Trace asking if he had an e-mail or something that they could talk through since text was hard to have a good conversation through. He had to wait a bit most likely for Trace to get back home since he was once again using Kusarimon as a ride and with how fast the dog Digimon was he had a feeling it would be hard to send a text on his back.

When he did get a reply Trace sent him his instant messenger name and was told to give him a few minutes to actually get onto his laptop before flooding him with messages. Takeru pulled his laptop over to him and started it up figuring about five minutes after he had set everything up would be a good time to message him. When the time had passed, he clicked the add a friend button and typed in Trace’s username and sent a request. Almost as soon as Trace had accepted it a message popped up on his screen:

TraceofNight: What’s up?

GuardAngel: I wanted to ask u if u knew anything more then what I did about Calili and Tsu

TraceofNight: More lists’?

GuardAngel: Yeah (^^;)

TraceofNight: Alright what u have?

Takeru quickly typed up the list he already had into the instant messenger and waited for a reply;

TraceofNight: Hm~ the digiegg they came out of was altered by something that scared all the baby digi’s

GuardAngel: Really?

TraceofNight: Yep talked to Elecmon. Something scared baby digi into hiding in houses while Elecmon was gathering food. Elec took hours to convince them to come out. After he did he checked on the eggs. The egg was suppose to hatch that day while he was gone, but it didn’t in fact it got bigger and felt like it had just appeared. He had Kudamon check on it but nothing was wrong

Something also picked Tsu over Calili for Kitsu to posses. A Digi attacked the village dragging baby 1 tsu away. Nearly killed both but did survive Elc said Tsu was different though

Also the key? It wouldn’t have been stolen if it weren’t for Tsu luring me into a trap in which he evolved to Shaitanmon. Don’t know if it Kitsu disguised as Tsu or if it was really Tsu either way without that angelic form he never would have gotten it

GuardAngel: u ever figure out why they looked like game characters?

TraceofNight: No, have a theory. I think whoever altered the egg’s data got lazy knew who it was meant for and just snatched data of her parents computer altered it a bit and made it their evolution line.

GuardAngel: … that’s your theory? (；一_一)

TraceofNight: Yes… U have a better one? u even have one?

GuardAngel: No…

TraceofNight: （￣ー￣）

GuardAngel: (ー_ー)!!

Takeru starred at the screen for a moment then typed another message;

GuardAngel: Anything else?

It took a while for Trace to answer and Takeru would have said he had been called away from the laptop or something, but it was saying he was typing so he knew he was most likely there. Then the typing message vanished and Takeru waited for a bit for typing something;

GuardAngel: Trace?

TraceofNight: Nothing… nvm I g2g now Lee is asking for me

GuardAngel: Alright good night

TraceofNight has signed off.

“What did he decide not to tell me?” Takeru wondered as he copied down what Trace had told him into the notebook. Whatever it was he had thought better of it or it was something he really didn’t want to tell Takeru. It made him curious as to what Trace had been typing before he had erased it. For now he just signed out of messenger and decided to spend the rest of the night working on his homework since he wasn’t chancing sleeping tonight. Not when he knew, thanks to Aiden, Kitsumon was healed. The dream he had last night also still worried him especially after seeing it basically come to life in what had happened today.


	17. Chapter Seventeen Longing for Normality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copy righted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it’s Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copy right for it.

“ _What did he decide not to tell me?” Takeru wondered as he copied down what Trace had told him into the notebook. Whatever it was he had thought better of it or it was something he really didn’t want to tell Takeru. It made him curious as to what Trace had been typing before he had erased it. For now he just signed out of messenger and decided to spend the rest of the night working on his homework since he wasn’t chancing sleeping tonight. Not when he knew, thanks to Aiden, Kitsumon was healed. The dream he had last night also still worried him especially after seeing it basically come to life in what had happened today._

It was obvious he had managed to fall asleep despite what he had initially planned because he now found himself in a familiar looking field. One with tall grass that he had never seen in the waking world before. “You're here again,” he heard someone say behind him and he turned to see Aderes standing there. She seemed sad compared to the last time he had seen her and was hugging onto her teddy bear tightly as if she was afraid someone would take it away from her at any moment. Once again she looked at him like the first time they had met. It made him feel like a puzzle of some sort that she had obviously yet to solve. It made him a bit nervous that she viewed him like that.

“Is something wrong?” he asked her as he took a few steps towards her. She slowly nodded her had then looked down at the ground. “Is it something I can help you with?” She hesitated for a moment but this time she shook her head, but she did look up at him. He sighed and rubbed the back of his head trying to figure out some way to cheer her up since he couldn't help her with her problem.

“Takeru have you ever gotten into a fight with a friend before?” she suddenly asked him causing him to understand why he couldn't help her. It wasn't easy helping someone when they got in a fight with a friend and could a lot of times only make it worse.

“Yeah I have a couple of times,” he told her though honestly it was more then a couple of times. “Is that what happened?” He asked her so he knew for certain he had figured it out correctly and she nodded her head. “What happened?”

“He did something he shouldn’t have and I yelled at him because of it. Now I’m afraid he’ll do something really bad,” she told him looking down at the ground once again.

 _Is it the fact that she yelled at him or the that he might do something worse that has her upset?_ He wondered before he asked her, “What did your friend do?”

“A lot of things… He’s broken some important rules and I know what I’m supposed to do, but I don’t want to… He’s the only friend I have,” she told him as tears began to well up in her eyes. Takeru knelt down and wiped the tears away causing her to look at him again.

“Is it something that can be forgiven?” Takeru asked wondering just what rules had been broken and whether they where really important or just seemed important from her point of view.

“I don’t know. He isn’t sorry for what he’s done, but he did really, really bad things! I’m afraid if I don’t tell someone or do something he’ll keep doing them!” Takeru couldn’t tell at this point if she was more afraid of someone else finding out what her friend had done or what her friend might do. It had him a bit worried now as well.

“Do you know why he’s doing these bad things?” Takeru asked her wondering just how much trouble an eight year old boy could cause and she quickly shook her head. He sighed as he looked to the side to think for a moment before he looked at her again. “I’m sorry Aderes I’m not quite sure what to tell you except if he’s doing things that could somehow hurt someone or himself then you really should tell either your parents or his before its too late.” Aderes nodded her head slowly, but her body language told him she didn't think that would work.

“Can you forgive him?”

When Takeru awoke he slowly lifted his head from his desk slightly disoriented. Then he winced when his bruised ribs protested the way he had managed to sleep. It was almost enough to make him wish he had tried to sleep in his bed instead of falling asleep at his desk like this... Almost.

The dream he had during the night had also left him confused more so then any normal one could have because once again he could only remember parts of it. Just who was he supposed to forgive and why? There was also the fact that he was slightly worried about something and had a feeling that he really had forgotten something important. He would be glad when this entire mess was finished and he could once again have a normal nights sleep and everyday dreams. Even if he had trouble remembering normal ones at least they didn't make him feel bad that he couldn't remember them.

With how light it was in the room the sun must have risen sometime after he had fallen asleep. With a sigh he stood up and glanced at his alarm clock. He still had a few hours before he could take some pain medicine so instead he went to the kitchen with the intention of finding some Ibuprofen to at least dull the pain somewhat for now. Quietly he walked so as not to wake anyone still asleep and opened up a cabinet grabbing the bottle of ibuprofen within it. First he checked the dosage on it then removed two pills. Takeru then put the bottle back where he got it from and carefully closed the cabinet door before walking over to the fridge and grabbing a bottle of water from it.

After he had taken the pills Takeru walked into the living room and sat down on the couch water battle in hand. Takeru knew he still had some homework that he needed to do, but his mind was still a bit fogged since he was half asleep so the teenager had no interest in it at the moment. Instead he just sat there for a bit trying to wake up. When that didn't seem to work he went back into his room to retrieve his mp3 player.

Takeru sat down at his desk setting the mp3 player on top of it after he turned it so he could change songs if he wished to. He then put the ear puds in and turned the mp3 player up somewhat before beginning to do his homework. As long as the songs played had a fast beat to them it was easy for him to keep working on it, but as soon as it would hit a slow pace one he felt himself falling asleep so he would just skip those songs. It was slow working like this because when one is half asleep you don't exactly read or write very fast but at least he was getting it done.

It was because of this Takeru still had a bit of homework left to do when his mother had made breakfast not long after she had gotten up. Instead of getting right back to it after eating he hung out with Tokamon and Patamon for a bit to help wake him up. It worked quite nicely with how hyper Tokamon could get at times and when he returned to his homework he was able to finish it pretty quickly. With his homework done he packed it and his school books back into his old school bag he was currently using. He really was going to have to buy a new one since the one that had been destroyed by Kitsumon had been replaced with this one which had started falling apart. Being a Chosen Child meant you happened to go through things faster then most people did.

Since Patamon and Tokamon where still playing in the living room Takeru figured he could get a bit more writing done on the book he was working on. About an hour into it he heard knocking on the door, but figured it must have been for his mother when she didn't come get him or show someone to his room. Patamon and Tokamon ended up in his room soon after which made him a bit curious as to who it could have been. He continued writing for a bit when he got thirsty and the water bottle he had was now empty so he go up to head into the kitchen to fill it up with tap water. On the way there he peeked into the living room and saw it was his brother that had stopped by. Whatever his brother and mother were talking about seemed important so he left the two of them alone and continued on his way to the kitchen.

Sometime after he had return to his writing he heard a knock near him and looked up to see Yamato standing in his door way. He had knocked on the doorpost to get Takeru’s attention so the younger teen removed the ear buds he had put back in to drown out Patamon and Tokamon playing. “Can I come in?” Yamato asked him and Takeru nodded. Yamato walked into the room followed by Gabumon who went to join Patamon and Tokamon. When his brother sat down on the edge of the foot of his bed Takeru noticed he was smiling. Which would have been fine except the way he was smiling was making him a bit leery. He only smiled like this when he was about ready to start teasing Takeru.

“What?” Takeru asked turning the chair fully around as he crossed him arms over his chest in a sort of defensive posture.

Yamato shrugs. “Nothing, I just heard the entire story about your daring rescue of Haru-chan,” Yamato told him. Takeru starred at him slightly confused. He knew he had already told Yamato about what had happened that day so what exactly was he meaning? The way he said it also seemed a bit strange to him. Yes it had been daring what he did but still....

“And?” Takeru asked wanting to know just where his brother was going with this.

“And the way you told me what happened with Kitsumon is a lot different than how Hikari had told Taichi. Which of course he told me yesterday when we were working on homework from a class we both are taking when he realized you hadn’t told me everything,” Yamato explained to him now having a cat ate the canary grin on his face.

Now Takeru understood just where his brother was going with this. It was the exact reason he was glad Yamato hadn’t looked at the pictures Hikari had given him. “Taichi has a big mouth,” Takeru said his eyes slightly narrowed.

“He only told me because he thought it was funny that he knew the entire story when I didn’t,” Yamato told him. Takeru noticed while Yamato had gone to his best friends defense he hadn't said anything about him not having a big mouth... The two of them were silent for a moment the three Digimon glancing at them wondering if they where going to fight or something. Finally Yamato asked, “So have you finally figured out just how you feel about her?” Takeru didn’t answer Yamato, but there really was no need to since his brother had instantly blushed out of embarrassment. “I’ll take that as a yes. When are you going to ask her out?”

The blush instantly vanished with that question as Takeru sighed, “I’m not. At least not until Kitsumon is gone if I do.”

“Why?” Yamato asked though he had a feeling he already knew the answer.

“As long as Kitsumon is only guessing about how I feel about Kohana he’s not going to put her in a lot of danger, but if I do ask her and she does say yes that will only put her in more danger,” Takeru answered looking towards the window. He really hated how the fox Digimon was messing with his life...

“You’re right,” Yamato said agreeing with him and Takeru was glad that he did.

“What were you talking about with mom?” Takeru asked in an attempt to change the subject for now.

“I needed her opinion on some things,” Yamato told him knowing full well what his brother was doing, but let him do it anyway. It was obvious the conversation had turned to something Takeru really wasn't comfortable at the moment. There was only so far Yamato was willing to push his brother with his good nature teasing.

“About what?” Takeru asked looking at his brother. It was rare now that Yamato sought the advice of their parents so he was quite curious as to what the two had spoken about.

“It’s not really important right now since I’ve decided to wait,” Yamato told him and Takeru was tempted to ask what he was waiting on, but he had a feeling with the vague answer Yamato had given him he wouldn’t get an answer.

Yamato and Gabumon didn’t stay for very long since Yamato had date plans with Sora today. After he had left Takeru went back to writing for a bit. When he got stuck on how to phrase something he stopped for a bit and turned to look at Patamon and Tokamon, but they weren’t in the room anymore. They must have left when he was busy focusing on his writing. Takeru closed the notebook for now and put the pen up he was writing with then walked into the living room to find Patamon playing a video game while Tokamon watched him. His mother was most likely in her room or at the dining table doing an assignment for her work.

Quietly he walked towards the dinning area so as not to disturb his mother who had several papers spread out across the table. _So I was right she is working,_ he thought to himself as he stood there for a bit before heading into the kitchen. Since she was busy with work he made lunch for everyone dropping off his mothers share as he went back into the living room with his and the Digimon's share. The rest of the day he spent hanging out with the two Digimon.

-X-

The next morning at the entrance to the high school Takeru, Patamon, Miyako and Hawkmon met up with Daisuke, Ken and their Digimon. The two teenage boys had just gotten out of their club for the morning.

“Anyone else hoping for a calm day today?” Daisuke asked everyone with a bit of a smirk on his face. Everyone looked at him like he just asked a stupid question.

“When aren't we?” Patamon asked from where he sat on top of Takeru's head.

Daisuke shrugged then answered him, “Dunno but I know I kinda wish we didn't on test days... Then again nothing ever seems to happen on them...”

“You know what Daisuke, I'll make you a deal,” Takeru started as he walked over to Daisuke placing a hand on his shoulder, “Next time we have a test coming up I'll stand in the middle of a large open field with a target painted on my back for Kitsumon then we'll see if you can't skip a test or two. In return, though, you have to make sure Imperial Dramon Fighter Mode manages to save me... Deal?”

Daisuke starred at him for a moment as if thinking the proposition over very carefully before he held out his hand to Takeru a serious expression on his face. “Deal,” Daisuke said as Takeru took Daisuke's hand a serious expression on his face as well as the two of them shook to seal the deal. The two teenagers where able to hold their expressions for about a minute before Takeru grinned and Daisuke began to laugh.

“Glad to see you're in a better mood, Takeru,” Takeru heard someone say behind them. Daisuke and him both turned around to look at the speaker not shocked to find it was Hikari standing a few feet away from them Kohana standing beside her. She was trying her hardest to appear as if their little joke had upset her with how she had her arms crossed below her chest and stood with one hip stuck out to the side. It didn't really work because there was a small smile on her face that gave her away. It also didn't help that Kohana, who was trying to appear upset as well, was obviously trying not to laugh at the moment.

“Aw come on Hikari! I'm tired of all these tests!” Daisuke whined as Hikari and Kohana walked past them through the schools open front doors.

“Pass them the first time and you wouldn't have to do make up tests,” Hikari teased as she and the others walked up to their shoe lockers.

“Ha, ha very funny Hikari-” Daisuke began only to be interrupted by Miyako.

“She was joking?” Miyako asked a mock expression of surprise on her face.

Daisuke chose to ignore her as he continued, “But seriously why do we have so many tests?”

“Simple it's high school and we're getting close to summer break,” Ken answered him as he pulled his outdoor shoes off switching them with his indoor shoes.

“Summer break is over a month away at least!”

“Wish it was sooner...” grumbled V-mon since the Digimon had yet left to go to their chosen hang out spots.

“Just be glad we're not third years Daisuke-kun,” Kohana told him and Daisuke begrudgingly agreed with her. Third years always seemed to have test from what he been able to tell from his older friends.

Once they had all gotten their indoor shoes on they began to head to their homerooms while the Digimon left for their hangouts. They had all been sitting for a minute or two when the late bell rang. Takeru, along with some of his friends, realized that Aiden wasn't in the classroom and when he didn't show up by the third period Takeru figured he wasn't going to. When the lunch bell rang Takeru joined up with his friends and all of them went to meet up with the Digimon.

“I wonder why Aiden hasn’t shown up today?” Hikari asked. Her question sounded to Takeru at least slightly worried.

“Maybe he wanted to make sure Black Agumon was completely cured of the virus?” Kohana offered.

Takeru, who was about to take a bite of rice, set his chopsticks down and thought for a moment. She had a point but he didn't think that was the likely reason. “Between the two of them I’d be more worried about Black Gabumon. He took a lot of damage the other day thanks to that virus enhanced Flymon,” Takeru said and Hikari nodded.

“With how much he cares about Digimon I doubt there is really anything to worry about,” Tailmon pointed out and she was right, of course. They had all seen how differently he behaved towards Digimon then humans.

“At least he cares about something,” Wormmon said and Takeru agreed with him. A heartless person was dangerous... Just as dangerous as Kitsumon was and that was something Takeru was really glad he didn't have to bother with. One Kitsumon was enough for him thank you very much!

The rest of the day moved by pretty quickly for Takeru and the others. When the bell ran to signify the end of the day the younger Chosen Children gathered together and began walking towards Iori’s middle school. Once they met up with him and Armadimon they began walking towards Aidens apartment following directions written down on paper by Aiden’s and some of theirs homeroom teacher.

“Remind me again why we’re going to his place?” Armadimon asked wondering if at least some of them, Takeru and Patamon mainly, had lost their minds.

“Because the teacher threatened us if we didn’t?” Daiskue offered slightly joking.

“Our homeroom teacher asked us, Hikari and I that is, to take the handouts and a copy of today’s notes to Aiden since a new transfer student like him can’t really be missing classes without chancing falling behind,“Takeru explained glancing at Daisuke.

“Yeah he threatened us!” Daisuke said more adamantly this time.

“Just how is that threatening you?” Iori asked him obviously as confused as the others.

“By sending Takeru to Aidens… You know? The kid helping Kitsumon?”

“Yea-h, alright Daisuke…”

“Like the teachers would know that Daisuke. I doubt most of them even realize whats going on,” Armadimon stated.

“I highly doubt they haven’t. I mean none of us have been nearly as injured as Takeru. It would be obvious by now that at least something is after him with how many days he’s missed school because he is in the hospital. I’m actually surprised they haven’t had him stay after school to talk about what is going on,” Ken said as he glanced at Takeru. It was obvious to him something had to have happened with their homeroom teacher now that he thought on it.

“My mom has been keeping them informed as to whats been going on so that won’t happen. I do know the homeroom teacher at one point tried to convince my mom to prohibit me from doing things as a Chosen Child for my own safety,” Takeru told them. The discussion had happened while he was still in the hospital due to recovering from the comma he had been in. When his mother had told him about it, it was obvious to Takeru she had not been the least bit happy with the teacher. He still had a the feeling more went on in the conversation then what he had been told though his mother had refrained from telling him more.

“What good would that do? Kitsumon is specifically targeting you! It’s not like it’s happening while we’re defending this world or the digital world! It’s happening while you’re fighting for your life!” Hikari said and Kohana nodded in agreement. He had a feeling that everyone’s opinion of the homeroom teacher just went down. Not that he could really blame them. When he had learned of the conversation from his mother his view of his teacher had changed as well. He didn’t dislike the guy really he was a good teacher and had only been trying to find a way to keep Takeru safe, but he was a bit leery of what he told him now when he did talk to him.

“I think he might have said more to my mother, but she wouldn’t say what exactly. Whatever it was though she wasn’t very happy about it,” Takeru told them as they turned onto the street the apartment building Aiden lived in was located at.

When they arrived the group stopped in front of the building and looked up. The apartment building was an older one with small apartments that usually had cheep rent and most of the time was aimed at college students. “You think Kitsumon would have gotten him a better place then this,” Daisuke commented as they began to head towards one of the doors on the first floor.

“With Kitsumon’s personality? He’s lucky the place isn’t run down as well,” Ken stated and the others agreed with him.

They stopped a few feet away from the door then Takeru walked up to it and knocked. It took a bit before Aiden opened the door and when he saw Takeru standing there a look of surprise appeared on his face. Then when he saw the others there as well the look disappeared to be replaced with a cautious one. “Why are you guys here?” Aiden asked leaning against the doorway trying to act like he really didn't care. It kind of made Takeru wonder just what he thought him and his friends where capable of.

“Hikari and I were asked by the homeroom teacher to bring you these,” Takeru answered holding out a manila envelop with the handouts, homework, and a copy of Kohana’s notes, since hers where in English, in it.

“And the others didn’t trust me so they decided to tag along so I couldn’t try anything,” Aiden guessed as he grabbed the envelope from Takeru.

“Why weren’t you in school today?” Hikari asked as she stepped up beside Takeru.

“Not that is any of your business, but Black Gabumon hasn’t fully healed yet so I stayed home to look after him,” Aiden answered as Black Agumon and Black Gabumon walked up behind him. Black Gabumon had a few bandages on him still.

Aiden glanced behind him when he noticed Hikari was looking past him. When he looked at the Chosen again his expression was one of annoyance. “Thanks for these,” he started holding the envelope up. “Now stop worrying about us since we’re enemies and worry more about your damn selves!” He practically snapped at them near the end before slamming the door shut in their faces.

Takeru glanced at Hikari for a moment who was starring at the door. “Come on no point in staying here,” V-mon said from behind them. Takeru nodded in agreement and the group of friends walked off.

Meanwhile, in Aiden’s apartment, Black Gabumon and Black Agumon starred at Aiden as he leaned back against the door. Black Gabumon noticed how was crushing the envelope in his hands as he glared down at the floor.

“Aiden what’s wrong?’ Black Gabumon asked him. When Aiden looked at him he was surprised by the dark look that was on Aiden’s face. Without a word he walked past the two Digimon and threw the envelope at the wall. Then he just stood there for a few minutes silent and unmoving. The two Digimon glanced at one another worried about their friend.

When Aiden suddenly shouted, “ _Damn them_ ,” the two Digimon jumped in surprised and looked at Aiden in time to see him sit down with his arms across his chest.

“What’s wrong with him?” Black Agumon whispered to Black Gabumon.

“Maybe he’s regretting his choice?” Black Gabumon offered with a shrug. He just hoped that really was it and Aiden wasn't losing his mind or something. At least the first option was something they could deal with...

\- X -

The next day at school Aiden showed up right before the late bell rang. During the homeroom teacher taking attendance Takeru noticed Aiden didn’t seem very happy about something. _Now that I think about it hasn’t he been getting angrier as this continues? Especially when Hikari is worrying over him_ , Takeru thought then glanced at Hikari. She seemed to have noticed the mood Aiden was in as well because she was looking slightly confused towards him.

Takeru sighed and glanced at his notebook. _The more she worries the angrier he gets. The angrier he gets the more worried she gets. You think one of them would figure it out by now… Then again its Hikari’s nature to worry about others…_

Takeru then turned his focus onto Kohana, who, appeared to be drawing in her notes. That didn’t really surprise Takeru. Her notebooks where always full of little drawings yet she somehow always managed to take accurate notes and had almost straight A’s. Takeru couldn’t help but smile as he thought about it even if he was slightly jealous of her ability to multitask.

 _Speaking of notes…_ he thought, even though he hadn’t really been speaking, before he turned his focus back to what the teacher was saying.

When lunch time came Takeru wasn’t surprised that Hikari attempted to talk to Aiden. He was surprised, however, by the fact Aiden completely ignored her as he stormed out of the classroom. “Is he trying to distance himself? And if so why?” Takeru thought aloud.

“Maybe he’s having a change of heart? One that he really doesn’t want to have?’ Kohana offered and Takeru turned to look at her. She had managed to walk over to him without Takeru even realizing it.

“Maybe,” Takeru agreed as he got his and Patamon’s lunches out of his bag. “It would be hard for him to do whatever he is trying to do if he felt bad about what he is doing to us.”

“Also since his grandmother died I doubt anyone has really worried about him and his Digimon. Aiden doesn’t want to like humans and we’re making it hard for him to continue to do so.”

“Especially Hikari,” Takeru said with a grin and Kohana smiled as well and nodded in agreement. After a moment Takeru’s smile slipped as he looked at his best friend as she began to walk towards them. “Still I hope she won’t regret what she is doing,” Takeru whispered to Kohana. She watched Takeru for a moment then she patted him on the shoulder.

“If she does then we’ll be there for her,” Kohana told him and this time Takeru nodded in agreement.

\- X -

After school Takeru waited outside of the school grounds for his brothers truck Patamon on top of Takeru's head as usual. That morning after his old school bag had ripped somewhat his mother had offered to buy him a new one and Takeru had quickly accepted her offer. Yamato and Taichi were supposed to join them to make sure Takeru was safe while the others took some time off guard duty for themselves.

“Did Yamato forget?” Patamon asked as he stood up and stretched. He knew it was a stupid question, but it was better then standing in silence like they had been for the past five minutes.

“I doubt it one of their classes probably ran long or something.”

“Maybe we should go back inside tell they arrived?” Patamon suggested as he looked up. The sky was filled with clouds that assured a thunderstorm was coming. Takeru was about to do as Patamon suggested when he spotted Yamato’s truck down the street. When Yamato pulled up along side the curve Natsuko got out on the passenger side and moved the seat so Takeru could join Taichi in the back.

“Sorry we’re later Takeru my class ran a lot longer then it should have,” Taichi apologized grinning sheepishly.

“Don’t worry I figured it was something like that,” Takeru told him and glanced up at Patamon who was grinning slightly because Takeru had been right.

“I just hope it doesn’t start raining with Gabumon and Agumon in the back,” Natsuko stated as she climbed back in.

“Don’t worry Gabumon thought of that and put a tarp in the back this morning,” Yamato told her as he waited for her to close the truck door before he pulled away from the curve.

They drove for a bit until they reached a small shopping district that was near the school. Yamato then parked and they all got out then walked towards the shops. Natsuko was also wanting to buy some other thing so as long as it didn’t start to rain they where going to be walking around a bit. “Maybe you should have brought Sora along,” Taichi said as he walked beside Yamato.

“She had plans with her mother today,” Yamato told Taichi who nodded then Yamato turned to look at Takeru. “I’m surprised you didn’t invite Kohana long.”

Takeru glanced at Yamato and Taichi both of who where smiling. At times it was like he had two older brothers instead of one. Takeru sighed as he shook his head. “Yamato do you remember just why I need a new bag?” Yamato just shrugged and let the subject drop for now.

Tokamon, Natsuko’s Digimon, happily walked around their feet bouncing ahead of them once in awhile to explore a bit then wait for them to catch up. “Natsuko, Natsuko! What’s this?” he would ask randomly and she would explain it to him.

It didn’t take long for Takeru to find a bag similar to the one that he had before just a bit lighter in color then the last one. As he waited for his mother to finish shopping he kept an eye on Tokamon for her. They already had to stop him a few times from “sampling” some of the food on display not to mention running into the streets. Takeru kind of had a feeling he now understood how his mother had felt when he was younger.

Out of no where the little Digimon made a small cry of a happy surprise before it took off running. “Tokamon!” Takeru shouted as he chased after him not really thinking about the fact he was separating himself from the others. He was to worried Tokamon might do something that either go himself hurt or got someone mad. Either way he really needed to stop him.

“Takeru wait!” Yamato shouted causing Taichi to look up from what he was examining in time to see Yamato take off after Takeru.

“C’mon Agumon!” Taichi shouted as he took off after the two brothers. He watched as the two turned a corner their Digimon with them. Taichi picked up the pace even If it meant leaving Agumon behind for the moment because he had a bad feeling about this. When Taichi turned the corner the only one that was there was Tokamon who looked like he was about to cry.

“Damn it!” Taichi shouted as he dug his cellphone out of his pocket to call the others for back up Tokamon now crying. He just hoped the two brothers would be alright in whatever mess they had managed to get themselves into.

Agumon walked over to Tokamon and picked the small Digimon up. It really wasn't the little guy's fault that the two brothers had vanished since Takeru should have known better to chase after him like that. When he heard someone else come running towards them he moved in front of Taichi letting Tokamon up on his head in case it was trouble. When he realized it was Natsuko Agumon relaxed his stance. “Where's Takeru and Yamato?”


	18. Chapter Eighteen Choices Beget Consequence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copy righted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it’s Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copyright for it.
> 
> The brothers will be arguing back and fourth in this chapter a lot as siblings happen to do every once in awhile. Also since this is a fandom that is still going strong people keep changing the names of the Digimon's attacks as they are either; translated better, changed with the release of new cards, seasons, or other things. Hence why Digimon attacks have a tendency of changing names during my fan fictions even though it's the same attack. I'm just going with the flow of things for now.

“ _C’mon Agumon!” Taichi shouted as he took off after the two brothers. He watched as the two turned a corner their Digimon with them. Taichi picked up the pace even If it meant leaving Agumon behind for the moment because he had a bad feeling about this. When Taichi turned the corner the only one that was there was Tokamon who looked like he was about to cry._

“ _Damn it!” Taichi shouted as he dug his cellphone out of his pocket to call the others for back up Tokamon now crying. He just hoped the two brothers would be alright in whatever mess they had managed to get themselves into._

_Agumon walked over to Tokamon and picked the small Digimon up. It really wasn't the little guy's fault that the two brothers had vanished since Takeru should have known better to chase after him like that. When he heard someone else come running towards them he moved in front of Taichi letting Tokamon up on his head in case it was trouble. When he realized it was Natsuko Agumon relaxed his stance. “Where's Takeru and Yamato?”_

When Takeru turned the corner with Yamato right on his heels Tokamon seemed to vanish right before his eyes as well as the people that where on the street. Takeru stopped in his tracks as he caught his breath while he looked around to see if everyone really was gone. “Great,” Takeru groaned as Yamato caught up with him. At least he hadn't managed to get trapped with just him and Patamon.

“Let me guess... It's a Kitsumon illusion?” Yamato asked him and Takeru nodded even if it was a sarcastic question. “Next time let mom get her own Digimon.” It was obvious to Takeru that Yamato was not happy with him at the moment and he really couldn't blame him. It had been a stupid move on his part.

“I'm sorry I didn't think obviously,” Takeru told him as he turned to look at his brother who nodded in agreement with Takeru. He was tempted to glare at his brother for agreeing with him, but decided against it because it was the truth. He hadn't been thinking when he had chased after the small Digimon. _Stupid me falling into a lull just because things where normal for once..._

Abruptly Patamon jumped off of Takeru and evolved to Seraphimon at the same time Gabumon evolved into Metal Garurumon in order to block an attacked aimed at the little group. It was an ice attack that slightly froze part of the Digimon's armors until they moved causing the ice to fall away from their bodies. “Thanks,” Yamato told the two Digimon once everything had settled back down then turned to face Takeru. “That attack was similar to one of Metal Garurumon's.”

“Then Aiden must be here instead of Kitsumon,” Takeru told him glad it was Aiden instead of Kitsumon since for the most part he was easier to deal with.

“That or both of them are here,” Metal Garurumon suggested as he scanned the area.

“Great thanks for brightening the mood,” Yamato grumbled and Metal Garurumon just shook his head. At least _he_ was being realistic about the situation. 

Takeru was about to say something when another attack came at them, one of fire this time, and two Digimon blocked it before it could hit the two brothers. “Aiden diffidently has to be here,” Takeru said recognizing the attack as Black War Greymon's. As for Yamato, he was climbing onto Metal Garurumon's back since it would be to hard for the Digimon to defend them if they stayed on the ground. Then he offered his hand to Takeru to help him up.

“Come on, Seraphimon can fight better if he doesn't have to carry you,” Yamato told him and as Takeru took his hand so he could climb up he couldn't help but think about how much pain he was going to be in after this fight was over.

 _I just had to get bruised ribs..._ “Won't it slow Metal Garurumon down though?” Takeru asked as he sat down behind his brother.

“Not by much and if Aiden's Digimon Jogress evolve it won't matter any way since they slow down considerably in that form,” Yamato pointed out. After Takeru had settled onto Metal Garurumon's back, him and Seraphimon began to fly up and above the illusionary buildings to look for the two virus Digimon. Almost as soon as they were above the buildings Black Metal Garurumon flew up in front of them and Black War Greymon flew up behind them. Before Seraphimon or Metal Garurumon could respond to their appearances Black War Greymon and Black Metal Garurumon attacked them causing the brothers Digimon to counterattack to prevent being hit. The attacks canceled each other out causing a few explosions.

“Seven Heavens,” Seraphimon shouted as he fired his attack at Black Metal Garurumon. He didn't like how easily the two Digimon had flown up on them without being noticed.

While at the same time Metal Garurumon cried out, “Coctyus Breath,” firing his attack at Black War Greymon. To the surprise of both the brothers and their Digimon the attacks went right through the two causing no damage.

“They're Illusions?” Takeru asked as he watched the two normal looking Digimon having to keep looking at one then the other to do so. Before Black War Greymon and Black Metal Garurumon attacked again Metal Garurumon began to scan them to see if Takeru was indeed correct. While doing so the two Digimon decided to press their attack causing Seraphimon and Metal Garurumon to block them instead of counterattacking them this round.

“Their attacks feel real enough,” Seraphimon told them as he glanced at his forearms. His armor was even slightly burnt thanks to the attack of Black War Greymon.

“They also appear on on my scanners, but only when they are about to attack us,” Metal Garurumon explained to them as they decided to distance themselves from the two attacking Digimon to make a harder target of themselves.

“Then maybe the real Black Metal Garurumon and Black War Greymon are around here somewhere supplying the attacks or their switching with these fakes right before it happens,” Yamato suggested having no other explanation for what was going on. It was his first time even dealing with an illusion of Kitsumons so he really didn't know what could happen in them. This time when the two illusions attacked instead of countering or blocking the attacks which would waste their energy Metal Garurumon and Seraphimon simply dodged them.

“Then we should find them before these two force us to devolve,” Seraphimon said since he did not like the idea of leaving the two brother defenseless if that did happen. The other three agreed with him so the two Digimon began to search throughout the illusion for the real Black War Greymon and Black Metal Garurumon dodging attacks whenever they came their way. Yet no matter how much they searched even with Metal Garurumon's radar they couldn't find them they just weren't there.

“This trick got old the first time he used it,” Takeru grumbled just before Seraphimon and Metal Garurumon had to dodge another attack. The movement caused him to wince slightly.

“Yeah but it still works obviously,” Yamato said and Takeru winced slightly knowing he was right.

_You think I would have learned the first time..._ Takeru thought and shook his head then wondered if Yamato was mad at him or was just making sure he would think things through next time.

“Maybe they are outside of the illusion...” Metal Garurumon said trying to change the subject before Yamato pushed to far and the two brother's ended up in a fight.

“If they where Taichi and anyone who would have arrived due to his call for back up would be after them. They wouldn't have time to attack us like this,” Yamato stated.

“Then maybe we should focus on escaping instead of fighting. It could be possible we could get out of this the same way we did when Shaitanmon first used this trick. We can try to break the illusion,” Seraphimon said as he looked at the others for a moment before going back to scan the area for an incoming attack.

“Is that how you manged to get out that time?” Metal Garurumon asked having never really thought about asking how they had done it before.

Takeru nodded then proceeded to explain just how they did it, “Yes a powerful attack of Seraphimon's and Shaitanmon's collided near the edge of the illusion causing it to crack. Seraphimon then attacked the crack with Excalibur and managed to break through.”

“Great! Now all we need to do is find an edge,” Yamato said, but Takeru could tell by the tone of his voice that he really didn't think it would work. Takeru had a feeling it wouldn't either. Kitsumon had already proven that he could learn from his past mistakes so why would it be any different now? Still it wouldn't hurt to at least try since they really didn't have any other plans.

The two Digimon took a moment to discuss which direction they should go before they decided on one and headed off in that direction avoiding attacks from the two illusions as they went. According to Yamato's watch ten minutes passed as they flew in this straight line without hitting an edge of the illusion. From what Takeru could tell the illusion had been set up like a small globe. Despite how far they went they would eventually end back up where they started from. It made him think of the infinity loop.

Yamato shook his head grumbling under his breath before he said aloud, “ _Great!_ He really did improve his illusions!” The two illusion Digimon chose at that time to attack them again and while Metal Garurumon dodged Seraphimon tried attacking again only to prove that it was still useless. As for Yamato he growled slightly glaring at the two illusion Digimon. He hated what was going on because there seemed to be no way out and at the rate things where going they really where going to be in trouble. He just hoped their friends where having better luck then they where are the moment because as of right now he saw no happy ending to this fight for them.

_Please just let me be able to keep Takeru from getting hurt again..._

\- X -

Outside of the illusion the storm that had been threatening all day had started as rain came pouring out of the almost black storm clouds. Taichi stood in the same area his two friends had vanished at ignoring the fact that he was already drenched by the rain as he watched both War Greymon and Ofanimon attack the area they had managed to figure out where the illusion began. The two Ultimate Digimon's attacks appeared to collide with nothing in the sky causing a few explosions, but there was no sign they had done any damage to the illusion.

On their side the illusion blended in with the rest of the area and they had only found it when Tsumon had walked right into it. Their Digimon where now spread out along the edges of it looking for a way in whether they made one themselves or they had to break into it. From where he was standing Taichi could hear a few more attacks hit the illusion, but sense there was no cry of victory they obviously had as much luck as War Greymon and Ofanimon.  _It's like Shaitanmon all over again..._ Taichi shivered at the thought thinking about how  _that_ incident had ended. He really hoped it wouldn't end as badly as that time had.

“No matter how many times we try it isn't going to change anything,” Hikari told her brother as he began to pace along the edge of the illusion that was at ground level. “It's just like last time,” she added voicing his thought as she looked down at the ground.

Taichi stopped and looked at his sister. The thought was to close to his own for him to like and as the “leader” of their friends it was his job to make sure no one gave up no matter how bleak things looked like. “No it's not at all like last time. Yamato and Gabumon are with Takeru this time and there is no way those two will let anything happen to Takeru and Seraphimon,” Taichi told his sister who looked at him and nodded.

“Not to mention it doesn't hurt to keep trying. I mean if they somehow weaken the illusion on their side then maybe we can help them bust through on this side!” War Greymon said as he got ready to attack the illusion once again. It at least gave them something to do besides just wait around and think about the worse happening in there.

“Should we call the Star siblings? Maybe they could do something...” Kohana offered as she held up her cell phone. 

Taichi looked at her then nodded. “It's worth a try. If nothing else maybe Trace could destroy it or something,” Taichi agreed. Kohana took a few steps away from the group so she could be heard over the Digimon's attacks as she selected Trace's cell phone number out of her cellphones phone book.

\- X -

“Just how are we going to beat them?” Seraphimon questioned as he glared at the two illusion Digimon getting very tired of this cat and mouse game they where currently in.

Metal Garurumon thought for a moment then spoke, “We will have to attack them right when they themselves are about to attack us. It is the only time my scanners even pick them up so they are in fact real at that moment.”

“Yeah but if it doesn't work with how close you'll guys have to get to them the two of you will end up taking a lot of damage from their attacks,” Takeru said worried for the two Digimon.

“Nothing else is working and as it is they are weakening us giving Kitsumon the chance to come in and finish us off,” Seraphimon pointed out. The two brothers looked at each other then nodded. 

“Then we might as well try,” Takeru told the two Digimon.

In order to make their plan work Seraphimon and Metal Garurumon had to fly off in different directions to make the two illusions separate from each other. Their plan was to each take one of the illusionary Digimon down to lower the risks of damage that could result from mistakes. However, instead of one of them going after Metal Garurumon the two illusion Digimon ended up going after Seraphimon. “Should have figured they would do that,” Metal Garurumon growled as he chased after them.

“Maybe this can work in our favor. If they're to busy with Seraphimon then they won't pay attention to when you attack them,” Yamato pointed out.

“And between the two of you, Metal Garurumon you are more likely to be able to tell when its the best time to attack them anyway. Seraphimon would be more likely to only notice his chance to attack if they where declaring their attack, but since they aren't it'll be guess work for him,” Takeru added since he agreed with his brother. He just wished they didn't have to use Seraphimon as bait.

Metal Garurumon knew the two brothers where right so he kept behind the two illusion Digimon instead of trying to over take them. He just hoped the fake Black Metal Garurumon's radar didn't work otherwise he would know Metal Garurumon was behind him. For awhile the two Digimon didn't attack causing Metal Garurumon to think they had somehow figure out their plan. It took Seraphimon stopping and turning as if he was going to fight them before the two illusion Digimon would even start up their attacks and with him behind them it just made it all the more easier for him to do this. At least if they really didn't know he was there.

“Grace Cross Freezer!” Metal Garurumon shouted as the hidden missile compartments all over his body opened firing their load of missiles as the two illusion Digimon. Before the two could even react to the attack the ice missiles hit them causing them to shatter much the same way a mirror would. The four then watched as cracks began to appear in the illusion and the lower piece's began to fall away as the illusion was broken.

“Alright it worked! Good job guys!” Yamato cheered grinning as Metal Garurumon flew up beside Seraphimon. The two Digimon where about to descend and try to find their friends when all of them began to hear clapping. When they turned to figure out where it was coming from all four of them spotted Kitsumon. It was then they realized they where still in an illusion.

“Damn am I glad the real Black Metal Garurumon and Black War Greymon aren't as stupid as those illusions where,” he commented as he unsheathed his katana in preparation for the fight that was going to happen.

\- X -

The white flame dog Digimon, Kusarimon, stood near the edge of the illusion having rushed both Luna and Trace to the scene upon getting Kohana's call. The other siblings would arrive later since they had slower transportation then he was. In other words a car that Krista had rented for the stay there. He had one ear cocked so he could listen to the conversation behind him while the other was trained to the barrier of the illusion.

Upon their arrival Trace had already tried to destroy the illusion with his ability but had only found out that it was somehow protected with a layer of the material his gloves where made out of. It was at least interesting to find out just how many curse words Trace knew though he had said them under his breath since Natsuko was there. They where now discussing in a big group just what their next move should be.

Then Kusarimon thought he heard something and turned both his ears to the illusion to hear better ignoring the chatter of the Chosen Children and the Star twins in the background. When he was certain he had actually heard anything he spoke up, “I heard something. I believe it was the sound of glass shattering.”

“You sure Kusarimon?” Trace called as he jogged over to his Digimon.

Kusarimon nodded his head before he fully leaned against the illusions barrier. It made his skin crawl doing so and it took him a moment before he realized the black electricity of Kitsumon's must have some how been crawling around on the edge of the barrier though there wasn't enough to harm him. “Yes I am. They must have destroyed a part of the illusion.”

“Then why aren't we hearing anything about it? One of the Digimon would have spoken up if they had seen cracks appear,” Taichi said as he watched Kusarimon.

“I never said it was the illusion that separates us from them...” Kusarimon pointed out as he looked at Taichi.

“Are you saying there is more then one illusion in there?” Trace asked looking at his Digimon.

“Yes...”

\- X -

Metal Garurumon landed feet first against one of the buildings and quickly pushed off to dodge an attack from Kitsumon. The jarring movement brought Takeru's attention to his bruised ribs which where starting to hurt badly. He leaned forward slightly resting his forehead against the back of his brothers shoulder in an attempt to relieve some of the pain. “You okay?” Yamato asked him as he glanced over his shoulder.

“My ribs are bothering me,” Takeru grumbled as he sat up straight again since it didn't work.

“You'll have more then your ribs to worry about when I'm done with you!” Kitsumon shouted as he swung his sword at them and attacked. Metal Garurumon dodged the attack while Seraphimon fired his own attack at Kitsumon causing the fox Digimon to dodge himself.

As the battle continued it was soon obvious that Kitsumon was targeting Metal Garurumon who was slower due to carrying the brothers. “Damn him! Why does he have to be so fast!” Yamato shouted as Metal Garurumon fired off one of his own attacks that Kitsumon sliced through with his sword then aimed to slice Metal Garurumon with it. The metal Digimon dodge backwards as Seraphimon dove down from above with Excalibur. Kitsumon blocked Seraphimon's sword with his katana and the two Digimon pushed against each other swords until Metal Garurumon fired an attack at Kitsumon's back. The fox Digimon fled upward to dodge the attack while Seraphimon dropped down further to avoid being hit himself.

“Guardian mode would be handy right about now,” Takeru mumbled as he turned his focus onto the fighting instead of his ribs. Seraphimon was able to sneak up on Kitsumon and attacked him from behind this time the fox Digimon couldn't dodge in time, but from what Seraphimon could tell it didn't do a whole lot of damage to him. Kitsumon grinned then counterattacked but Seraphimon easily dodged it. It was obvious at the moment Kitsumon was playing around with them.

Kitsumon must have decided Metal Garurumon really was the best target between the two again because Takeru felt a rush of air go over his head. “The longer this goes on the more energy Metal Garurumon has to use to keep up his speed!” Takeru snapped glaring at the fox Digimon.

“You think it would be better if Seraphimon was to carry you? Hell no! That would just give him what he wants!” Yamato shouted at Takeru glaring over his shoulder at his younger brother. 

“Yamato if we stay like this Metal Garurumon will get hit sooner or later!” Takeru shouted standing his ground. He may have made one bad choice today but he was not going to make another just to please his brother. “He'll be able to move easier if he doesn't have to carry us both!”

“And Seraphimon would move slower then he already is!”

“Damn it! Yamato he's more use to fighting carrying one person then Metal Garurumon is carrying two!” The two brothers continued to glare at each other for a bit only stopping when they had to duck and cover their heads when glass rained down on them. One of Kitsumon's attacks had hit high shattering the glass in one of the buildings.

Finally Yamato sighed and shook his head. “Fine, but don't blame me if this turns out to be a bad idea!” Takeru nodded then called Seraphimon over to pick him up while he could. He wasn't really surprised Kitsumon let them do this. It really did mean his choice target was being made for him and it made it a lot easier for the fox Digimon to try and get rid of the two of them.

There was a loud thundering noise that made Takeru jump slightly and he realized the storm must have broken outside of the illusion. He could also hear the rain pouring which seemed strange to him. Just why could he hear it? As he pondered this the battle continued on. Kitsumon had obviously switched targets to Seraphimon instead of Metal Garurumon. Metal Garurumon would help by either counterattacking or trying to draw Kitsumon's attention to him by flying a lot closer to the fox Digimon then Takeru thought was wise. A few attacks from Kitsumon came close, but not as close as they had been to when Metal Garurumon had been carrying both brothers.

Then Kitsumon began to get clever much to Takeru's annoyance. Apparently he had a lot more control over his illusions now because things began to change in his favor. Seraphimon had quickly flew behind a building in order to gain his bearings and prepare to attack Kitsumon again. As he was about ready to attack the building disappeared just as Kitsumon rushed him as he shouted, “Blade of the Winds!”

Seraphimon had attempted to dodge the attack only to have the earlier building reappear to block his retreat. He would have been hit if it hadn't been for Metal Garurumon counter-attacking with his missiles destroying Kitsumon's attack. It didn't matter even if he flew above the buildings they still had a way of interfering with his attempts to either attack, dodge, or counterattack. Seraphimon and Takeru where both very grateful that Metal Garurumon was with them otherwise Seraphimon would have been hit a few times. At least the buildings where something they could deal with as long as Metal Garurumon could help them.

\- X -

“It seems like you aren't the only one who can hear something,” Taichi said as he leaned against the illusion's boundary next to Kusarimon. Originally Trace was going to test whether it was Kusarimon's keen hearing or if anyone could hear noises from within the barrier, but when Kusarimon had mentioned the electricity moving along it Trace had lost all interest in trying so Taichi had stepped up.

“What do you hear?” Natsuko asked from where she stood a few feet back. She was about the only one in the group who was actually using an umbrella. The others either had coats or just plain ignored the fact they where getting drenched. 

“Fighting and from what I can tell it's Metal Garurumon and Seraphimon against Kitsumon,” Taichi said as he glanced at the others.

“Last time we couldn't hear anything maybe we can punch through?” Hikari suggested as she turned her attention to Daisuke and Ken. “Imperial Dramon's Dragon Mode cannon has the most power behind it maybe you guys can get him to try?”

“It's worth a try,” Ken said as he went to go tell their Digimon.

“Difiantily better then standing around here and trying nothing...” grumbled Daisuke as he followed after Ken.

Trace watched as the two friends walked off then turned his attention back to watching Taichi and Kusarimon. By then the rest of his siblings had already arrived, but since they where unable to do anything to help they where staying back and out of everyone's way. They had already volunteered to get everyone something to eat and warm to drink if this went on to long since that really was the only way they could help. Their Digimon had yet to evolve....

“ _Move now_!” Hikari shouted as she ran towards her brother causing quite a few people standing there to jump. She grabbed the back of her brothers shirt and pulled him away just as the barrier became visible turning completely black as the electricity along it became much stronger. As for Kusarimon the Digimon had moved as soon as he had heard the warning.

“What the hell is going on in there...”

\- X -

“Seven Heavens!” Seraphimon shouted as he attacked Kitsumon. The fox Digimon slashed through the orbs of light before going after Seraphimon.

Metal Garurumon moved in front of Kitsumon blocking his path and shouted, “Garuru Tomahawk,” firing a large missile from his chest. Kitsumon dodged out of the way only to have Metal Garurumon try to attack him with his claws as he passed him. By the time Kitsumon managed to get around the metal Digimon Seraphimon had moved to a different area.

There was a problem for thexr angelic Digimon though. A few minutes ago the light in the illusion had began to drop dramatically. It was becoming very hard for the angelic Digimon and the brothers to see anything. Seraphimon's golden wings gave off some light, but it really only made him an easier target for Kitsumon. At least it made it easier for Metal Garurumon to follow his movements even without using his radar. Even if Seraphimon's wings didn't give off light Takeru had a feeling Kitsumon would still be able to see him in the darkness. Metal Garurumon could as well so as it got darker he was warning Seraphimon of incoming attacks.

When it had become completely dark to where Takeru could only see as far as the light from Seraphimon's wings could reach the buildings began to continuously shift. The way it was now it was almost like they where in a labyrinth instead of a fake city. There were a few times Seraphimon ended up running into a building before Metal Garurumon could warn him, but he managed to keep from being cornered by Kitsumon just barely.

Then Seraphimon really was cornered. It didn't matter where he flew there was always a building blocking his path and when he tried to fly over them the buildings seemed to grow. He was about ready to attempt to smash through one of the buildings when he heard Kitsumon shout echo throughout the area, “ _Blade of Storms!”_ Seraphimon could feel the electricity in the air build up but Kitsumon was out of his field of vision. Since there was no way to know just where the attack was going to come from he protectively curled around Takeru.

Takeru felt the attack hit Seraphimon and the angelic Digimon was pushed against one of the buildings. From the way Seraphimon was protecting him he couldn't really move but he could feel the electricity dancing along his armor. The armor must have absorbed the worse of it before it even reached Takeru because the shocks he felt where no worse then static electricity. The armor however began to feel uncomfortably warm. “Seraphimon?” Takeru questioned as he felt Seraphimon move slightly.

“I am alright Takeru. What about you?” Seraphimon asked him as he shifted to where he could look at Takeru.

“I'm fine I didn't even really feel anything.”

“ _Takeru!”_ he heard his brother warning shout and the tone in his voice made Takeru instinctively tense. 

“Blade of the Winds!” Takeru heard next and it was Seraphimon's turn to tense as he anticipated the attack hitting. Takeru once again felt something impact with Seraphimon. The Angelic Digimon was pushed backwards hard colliding into the building and Takeru heard the glass shatter behind them. Then there was a flash of light and Takeru felt his stomach drop when he realized what it was. It was the light that signified a Digimon had devolved. Seraphimon was still protecting him so that meant...

“ _Yamato!_ _”_

-X-

Everyone outside froze when they heard Takeru scream. Taichi quickly turned his attention to Daisuke, Ken and Imperialdramon Dragon Mode. The large Digimon stood in the middle of a street firing his Positron Laser at the illusion trying to break through. The Digimon and humans where busy keeping the traffic from going any where near Imperial Dramon Dragon Mode. “Get in there  _ now _ !” Taichi shouted at them.

“We're trying!” Daisuke shouted back as he looked at his Digimon. “It just isn't punching through!”

“He just doesn't have enough power!” Ken also shouted as he looked at Taichi.

“Then we'll just give him more!” Sora said as she turned to look at Garudamon.

“Right!” Garudamon flew over to Imperial Dramon Dragon Mode and transferred her energy to the Dragon Digimon devolving down to Piyomon.

“We'll help as well!” Zudomon said moving over to Imperial Dramon followed by Atlur Kabuterimon. The two also transferred their power to Imperial Dramon devolving down to their child stages. With their help the blast from the Positron Laser increased and cracks began forming in the illusions black barrier.

“Alright!” Daisuke cheered as he jumped up grinning.

\- X -

“Yamato! Metal Garurumon!” Takeru shouted as he pushed against Seraphimon trying to get the angelic Digimon to let him go. Unlike how Seraphimon was able to protect him Metal Garurumon could not do the same for his brother leaving Yamato open to the attack the two had taken in order to protect him and Seraphimon.

Takeru felt as the unresisting armor shifted as Seraphimon changed how he was holding onto Takeru. Before he finally let the teenage boy go. “Be careful!” Seraphimon warned as Takeru quickly moved forward pulling his cellphone out of his pocket. He couldn't see his brother or his Digimon in the light of Seraphimon's wings so he was going to use it as a makeshift flashlight.

He found Tsunomon first this way and he checked to see just how badly the Digimon was injured. Most of it was small injuries, but there was one large one on him that made Takeru wince in sympathy for the little Digimon. Gently he picked up the small Digimon as Seraphimon began to move towards where they had first been knocked into the building. It was obvious the angelic Digimon was keeping an eye out for Kitsumon while Takeru continued to search for Yamato.

Since he did not find his brother right away he realized when Metal Garurumon had devolved into Tsunomon his brother must have kept moving from the force of the attack. He found Yamato several feet away from here he had found Tsunomon. Carefully he removed his rain jacket and set the small Digimon on top of it as he moved over to his brother.

He could see several cuts on his brothers hands and cloths, but because Takeru had similar injuries those where most likely from when the glass had rain down on them. It was also obvious that his brother had broken his arm so Takeru quickly unbuttoned his school uniform overcoat to use it as a makeshift sling. “Yamato?” Takeru questioned as he took a step closer so he could actually implement the sling. His brother didn't say anything and at the moment Takeru was grateful that his brother was unconscious.

“I've got you now!” Takeru heard Kitsumon shout causing him to jump and turn. He could see the fox Digimon floating near the newly made opening in the building but Seraphimon was between them and him. Takeru quickly turned his attention back to his brother carefully putting his arm in the middle of his jacket before he gently tied the sleeves around his brother's neck. When he pulled away he realized one of his hands was covered in blood. Yamato must have hit his head which explained just why he was unconscious.

Takeru was about to attempt to do something for the bleeding when he heard a rather loud crash and turned to look back towards the two Digimon. They where sword locked, but the crash had come from a blast of light that suddenly appeared behind Kitsumon. Takeru grinned as he recognized the attack from Imperial Dramon's Positron Cannon. As the illusion began visibly cracking around all of them War Greymon and Ofanimon appeared both of them going for Kitsumon's back. The fox Digimon broke free of Seraphimon and pulled out of the building the two Ultimate Digimon chasing after him as Seraphimon moved over to Takeru and Yamato.

“We have to get out of here before the illusion shatters,” Seraphimon explained to him and he moved behind Yamato and very gently picked him up.

“Right,” Takeru agreed as he picked up Tsunomon, jacket and all, and ran over to Seraphimon so the angelic Digimon could pick him up. Once Seraphimon was sure he wouldn't drop either of the brothers he quickly flew out of the building and towards the direction the beam had come from. As he flew out of the shattering illusion Imperial Dramon Fighter Mode flew in at top speed to aid War Greymon and Ofanimon in chasing down Kitsumon. 

Over the thunder Takeru could hear War Greymon declare an attack on the most likely retreating Kitsumon. By then they where outside of the illusion and the rain had instantly drenched him completely through despite Seraphimon's efforts to keep his armload dry. At least Tsunomon was dry since he was safely wrapped up in Takeru's raincoat.

“ _Seraphimon over here_!” Taichi shouted from somewhere on the ground. The Angelic Digimon spotted him easily enough since he was standing near Kusarimon. The dog Digimon's flames where working as an excellent deterrent to the rain as well as helping to dry off those who where wet. The angelic Digimon landed near them and instantly Jou, Taichi and Natsuko ran over to them as Takeru jumped out of Seraphimon's arms.

“Jou, Yamato's arms broken and I think he hit his head,” Takeru explained to his friend as Seraphimon knelt so Jou could actually look at Yamato.

“What about you?” Jou asked over his shoulder as he untied Takeru's coat so he could look at Yamato's arm. When he couldn't see any damage to the outside of the arm he retied the coat and turned his attention to Yamato's head.

“I'm fine... Tsunomon and Yamato protected us,” Takeru explained as he held Tsunomon up slightly. He watched as Jou looked his brother over and moved his jacket to where it was completely covering the small Digimon. He heard someone walk up beside him and felt the rain stop falling on him. Takeru looked beside him spotting his mother who was making sure to hold the umbrella over both her and her youngest son. Tokamon was riding on her shoulder and he glanced at Takeru for a moment before leaning his weight against Natsuko. Natsuko patted the small Digimon on the head, but she kept her attention on her oldest son.

“Kusarimon come here and help light the area up,” Jou said and the dog Digimon carefully moved over next to Seraphimon sitting down. Takeru turned his attention back to the group as he gently hugged Tsunomon to his chest.

_Maybe it would have been better if I had stayed on Metal Garurumon's back..._


	19. Tendrils of Despair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copyrighted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it’s Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copyright for it.

Takeru sat at his desk not hearing what his teacher spoke about during the history lesson his focus instead was on his own thoughts and a bit on the drawings in the margarine of his notebook while he worked on a new one. As far as Takeru was concerned yesterday afternoon had been a complete failure even if no one had been very seriously hurt. Now his emotions were a wreck, one big jumbely mess so tangled up that he wasn't sure just what he felt at the moment except that he was exhausted and wish he could sleep without worry for once.

Right now he could identify that there was anger, hate, loathing, regret, sadness, pity, and.... Well, it was chaos in his mind right now and he wasn't sure when he would be able to get those emotions of his under control. He wasn't in a hurry to do so either. You see, Takeru wasn’t stupid, he knew what happened last night was basically a no win situation as soon as Kitsumon began to mess with the illusion like he had done. If he had stayed on Metal Garurumon's back like Yamato had wanted sooner or later they would have been hit with one of Kitsumon's attacks meaning the three of them would have been injured instead of just Yamato and Gabumon. Though he didn't like the phase “instead of just” since it made it seem he didn't really care... Still, he was understandably upset that Yamato had gotten hurt when he, Takeru, had been the original target of the attack. The teen's eyes narrowed slightly as he erased one of the heads of his drawings, Kitsumon being stabbed by Seraphimon, as he thought back to what had happen last night...

When Jou had finished looking Yamato over he had straightened then had taken a few steps back from the angelic Digimon. “He's hit his head pretty hard. Seraphimon you need to take him to the hospital,” Jou had told Seraphimon which had caused Takeru to walk over so he could pull his brothers keys out of his pocket. He wouldn't need them and Takeru knew he wouldn't be happy if they left his truck where Yamato had parked it.

“Trace can you and Kusarimon take my mom there as well? I think it would be better then having Seraphimon carry her and he'll be faster then driving there,” Takeru remembered explaining to Trace as he had asked the favor of him at the time he still had most of his emotions in check so he had been thinking straight. Trace looked at him for a moment as if he had wanted to say something as Seraphimon stood. Then he seemed to think the idea over before he moved over to Kusarimon though whatever he wanted to say he kept to himself. 

“Alright then, but only if you are alright with it,” Trace had said as he had looked over at Natsuko. She had looked at Kusarimon who at the time had been laying on his stomach so Trace and Natsuko, if she chose to go, would have been able to climb onto his back easily since the large dog like Digimon was taller then even Trace was.

“I would appreciate it,” she had told human and Digimon as she handed her umbrella over to Takeru before she had walked over to the two. As fast as Kusarimon could go the thing would be useless for her so better her son used it then her carry it with her. Takeru had watched as Trace quickly had climbed up then he helped Natsuko climb up as well.

“Alright then,” Trace had said and Takeru had been able to tell that Trace had been unsure of doing this while Kusarimon had carefully stood up. At the time Takeru hadn't really thought much of it, but now he really couldn't blame Trace. Takeru's mother really did seem to be the type who would panic in such a situation, but in reality it was just the opposite. He now also wished he had gone with them instead of planning to have Taichi take him in his brother's truck because of what had happened later on that night.

Sora had ended up going with Seraphimon after asking Takeru if he was alright with her going instead of him and of course he had been. The two Digimon had left after Seraphimon had picked Sora and Piyomon up then Jou had turned his attention to Tsunomon while the Digimon that had helped had devolved to their child stages.

“Most of his injuries aren't bad, but this one...” Jou commented as he looked over the large cut Takeru had spotted when he had picked the little Digimon up earlier that night. Jou had imedantly began treatment of the wound then.

Takeru remembered that at the time he had thought how Tsunomon wouldn't have gotten hurt if he hadn't chased after Tokamon in the first place. Even now he still agreed with that thought, but now at the same time he was angry with himself of having thought it in the first place. If his low level Digimon had suddenly taken off like his mother's had then he would have chased after him so why shouldn't he have done the same of his mother's Digimon? Still the thought wouldn't leave him alone along with a few others some less savory then even that one...

_ Where there is hope despair dwells there as well _ , he thought to himself wondering where he had heard it before as he began to draw a practically vicious Kitsumon death scene. It didn't do much for his notes, but it was making him feel a bit better. At least he believed it was...

While Jou had been busy treating Tsunomon's injuries Takeru had finally noticed that Taichi was standing beside him. Takeru hadn't even noticed he had walked over to him to lost in his own thoughts he guessed. Takeru had been able to tell that Taichi was seeing how bad Tsunomon's injuries where. “Taichi can you drive my brother's truck?” he had asked because in all honesty Takeru had never seen Taichi drive anything other then his own car before.

“Yeah sure I can,” Taichi told him and Takeru had nodded then had turned his focus back to Tsunomon and Jou.

It was then that Kohana had spoken and a part of Takeru wished she had stayed silent even though he knew someone else would have asked the same question at some point that night. “Takeru are you okay?” she had asked her question while she and Hikari had walked over to them. As for their Digimon Takeru remembered seeing Tsumon with Tailmon in his arms. The angelic Digimon had been standing off to the side out of everyone’s way, but close enough that he could have heard and seen everything that had gone on that night.

Takeru had answered without really thinking assuring them both that he was indeed fine, but then Hikari had pointed out that he was pale and Kohana had agreed with her. Between the two of them insisting something had to be wrong Takeru had finally noticed that, yes, something was in fact wrong. At that moment Takeru had felt an intense flare of pain from his chest that caused him to grimace and almost caused him to drop Tsunomon. His ribs had become seriously agitated thanks to not only riding Metal Garurumon, but being carried by Seraphimon as well. What had caused the worse of the pain though was when Metal Garurumon had crashed into Seraphimon and then into the building which had resulted in his ribs practically screaming in pain. The only thing that had kept him from noticing until now was the rush of adrenaline he had gotten thanks to what had happened to his brother. So he had only noticed it when Hikari and Kohana had pointed out that something did appear to be wrong.

Jou had taken one look at him after he had finished with Tsunomon and Takeru had a feeling he had thought of relieving him of the small Digimon, but Takeru wouldn't have let him if he tried and Jou must have realized that. So instead he had turned towards Taichi and had said, “Take him home.” Those three words where why he wished he had gone with Trace and his mother because he knew that once Jou had said them his friends would make sure he went home. Still that didn't mean he wouldn't have argued against it and he did.

“ _No!_ ” he had shouted as he had looked at his two friends already seeing both of them had gone into 'big brother' mode on him. He was still trying to figure out how Jou had learned that one since like Takeru he was the youngest in his family.

Jou's eyes had narrowed and he had quickly switched from big brother mode to doctor mode at Takeru's refusal. “Takeru you need to rest and you obviously need to take whatever medicine the hospital gave you and now!” Jou had told him in a voice that had meant it would be no use for Takeru to argue. Still, much to his shame and Jou's obvious surprise, Takeru had glared at him and it wasn't a I'm mad at you glare either. Yet, Jou had starred him down until finally he had sighed and reluctantly agreed to do as Jou had said. Now as he glanced out the window, he wondered if he should apologize to his friend...

After that, Takeru had felt a hand on his shoulder and had turned to see Krista standing beside him. “Don't worry Takeru I'll head to the hospital myself and make sure they call you when they learn anything, alright?” K rista had told him and Takeru had just nodded again. It was then decided Luna and Lexi would go with Krista while Lee would go with Takeru for the time being and the boy had been firmly told by his oldest sister not to cause Takeru any trouble since he was in pain.

It was obvious even then that Lee was worried about him, but he had taken what his sister had said to heart and kept quiet while they followed Taichi to where Yamato had parked his truck earlier that day. Hikari and Kohana ended up tagging along with them as well and Takeru had noticed before they had followed that Hikari had spoken with Daisuke and Ken then the two had then quickly left with their two Digimon. Takeru remembered as he had walked thinking how the two would probably meet them at his apartment later on. He had been half right at first because when they had arrived they found Daisuke waiting with Miyako and Iori along with their Digimon. Interestingly enough V-mon had been missing at the time.

“Where's Ken at, not to mention V-mon?” He remembered asking as he gave Tsunomon to Daisuke so he could unlock the door for all of them.

“He's getting everyone a dry set of cloths,” Daisuke had answered him which had caused Takeru to glance at the others just then noticing that like him they had been drenched as well thanks to the rain. After Takeru had opened the door it was awhile before he actually got to sit down and relax because he had to change out of his uniform, which took him longer then it should have with how much pain he was in, he removed his brace as well, then he had taken his medicine. After that he took up two spots on the couch with Tsunomon in his lap in a blanket instead of his rain jacket.

It was a waiting game then and at some point that night Ken had shown up with the change of cloths for everyone except Lee who had just borrowed some of Takeru's old cloths. The girls had changed in his mother's room while the guys had changed in his. While they had all waited for news the girls had made everyone something to eat though Takeru remembered he didn't eat much of it.

While they had waited for Krista's call Takeru had kept fiddling with his cellphone because that was the only number Krista knew. He had been about ready to check again if he had somehow missed the call or even a text when Tsunomon had begun to move. Takeru remembered how relieved he had felt when the small Digimon had stirred. When he had first open his eyes and looked around Takeru had noticed that Tsunomon was tense ready to fight, but when he realized where he was the small Digimon had instantly relaxed, but only a bit because of course he couldn't see Yamato.

So Takeru had not at all been surprised when Tsunomon had asked him, “Where's Yamato?” Takeru had explained to him just where his brother was at and the extent of his injuries as far as Takeru had been able to tell and as he did so he watched as Tsunomon's expression fell. Then Tsunomon had asked him, “Takeru... are you mad at me?” The question had caused everyone in the living room to look at the small Digimon in wonder as to why he had asked such a question. Takeru, like them, had been confused at first, but then he had remembered what Tsunomon had told him in the hospital.

He had hugged Tsunomon as gently as he could then had said,“No Tsunomon I'm not... I know better then to think anyone could stop my brother from trying to protect me and I know that you wouldn't even think twice if Yamato asked you to do something dangerous to protect Patamon and me...”

_ I just wish the two of them wouldn't do it so willingly  _ he thought as he starred at his latest drawing,  _ Besides its my fault this happened... _ Takeru knew better, he really did yet he still had gone forward without hesitating. Now he was unsure just what to think about what had happen and the mess his emotions where in didn't really help him.

It was after that when the phone had rang at last and it was the house line instead of his cell phone. Taichi had answered it because Takeru couldn't get up fast enough to get there before him. It hadn't been Krista like he had expected but his mother instead. “How is he?” he had asked after Taichi had handed him the phone.

She had confirmed what he had already known about Yamato's arm that it was in fact broken. “He also has a slight concussion. He'll have to stay in the hospital for a few days for observation to be sure nothing else is wrong,” she had told him and he could hear Luna and Trace talking in the background. Takeru had then explained to everyone what his mother had said and Tsunomon had let out a sigh of relief.

“Is he awake yet?” he had asked afterwords. 

“Yes he woke up a few minutes ago and is wanting me to ask how Tsunomon is,” she had answered him and Takeru had smiled slightly as he had looked at the small Digimon.

“Tell him he's awake now as well, though he does have a pretty bad cut from the attack they blocked for Patamon and me...” he answered and he heard as his mother told his brother this. “What about Patamon?”

“Just slightly burned but otherwise fine. Can you hand the phone back to Taichi for a few?” he remembered his mother asking much to his confusion. He had looked at the older teen who was leaning against the back of the couch and had held the phone out to him.

“She wants to talk to you,” he had explained to the noticeably confused Taichi. The older teen had shrugged then had taken the phone.

“Yes?” Taichi had asked as he had walked into the hallway.

“I wonder if something is going on...” Daisuke had asked as he watched Taichi leave the living room. Takeru had wondered the same thing as he adjusted how he was sitting on the couch. Once he had finished Tsunomon also moved until he was in a more comfortable position as well.

“As soon as he's done on the phone we'll see how hard it'll be to switch you with Patamon since I have a feeling you'd rather be with my brother right now,” Takeru remembered telling the small Digimon in his lap.

“Yes there is also no real point in me being here if Yamato isn't,” Tsunomon had said in agreement and Takeru had just nodded before he had laid his arm over his eyes having not cared at the time if the position hurt or not.

He remembered how he thought about how he had really screwed up this time and wondering if Yamato was mad at him or not. He wouldn't have blamed him if he was and since Takeru had yet to see his brother he still didn't know if he was. A part of him hoped he was because Takeru thought  _ someone _ should be mad at him for what he had done and his brother was the only one left that could be really.

When Taichi had returned he had explained how Sora would stop at the apartment to pick up Tsunomon and drop off Patamon at the same time. She would also pick up a few things for his mom then head back to the hospital since their father had already brought whatever Yamato might have needed. Then Taichi had asked them, “Out of all the Digimon here who will be able to evolve higher then adult tomorrow without the use of their Digivices and ending up in their baby two stage?” While he had asked he had looked over the group of Digimon.

The only ones to have respond positive to the question was Tsumon, Agumon and Tailmon. Taichi had looked at V-mon and Wormmon the question he had been about to ask most likely obvious since V-mon had answered it before he had been able to ask, “We used up a lot of energy punching through the illusion then chasing after Kitsumon.”

Taichi had nodded then had turned his focus to Takeru, “Patamon has already voiced that he doubts he can evolve soon either without the aid of his D3. Having him as Tokamon and unable to evolve at all for a few days isn't ideal.”

“And your point?” Daisuke had asked even though Takeru had a feeling at the time everyone already knew what Taichi was getting at, but Daisuke had obviously wanted him to say it already. 

“So after what just happened it would be a good idea for at least one person to stay here who has a Digimon that can fight and actually stand up to Kitsumon,” Taichi said as he had glanced at his sister and Kohana.

“Iori and my Digimon can slow him done but without Seraphimon's help I doubt we could hold him off long enough for help to arrive,” Miyako had as she had glanced at Hawkmon. She was thinking about something, but what it was Takeru at the time and even now had no guess.

“Same here... Sou'Zakamon could do distractions, but even his speed isn't faster then Kitsumon's,” Kohana had said as she leaned against the back of the couch and had looked down at Takeru. It had been obvious to him just how badly she wished she could help protect him, but a part of him was glad she couldn't because at least then she hopefully wouldn't become a target again.

“It really is just Hikari and I that can fight then...” Taichi had said as he glanced at his sister. Takeru had noticed how she had pointed at Kohana to remind him she had something she needed to do already...

Takeru was snapped back to the present when the lunch bell rang just then. He sat there for a moment starring at his bag with the two bento boxes in it. At the moment he really didn't feel like eating, but knew Patamon would be hungry so he decided to wait for the small Digimon to come to him. After what had happened yesterday he really didn't want to go wondering around without the others who, Takeru noticed, were also staying in the classroom.

Last night nothing had been decided by the time Sora had arrived with Patamon. Takeru had been glad when he saw his small friend land on the back of the couch. He had been able to see several burns on Patamon's body that had been treated at the hospital. Sora had walked over to the couch and had joined Kohana at leaning against the back of it. At that moment Patamon had reached out to Tsunomon and patted the other Digimon on his spike then had said, “Thank you for protecting us.” Tsunomon had looked up at Patamon and smiled a slight blush on his cheeks.

“How do you feel Takeru?” He remembered Sora asking him as she too reached over to pat Tsunomon. The Digimon had looked up at her with a slightly worried look in his eyes but Sora had smiled reassuringly at him.

“I'm sore but it isn't as bad as it was earlier,” Takeru had told her as he looked up at her. Her attention had turned to Tsunomon as she had noticed the large bandage that was now on his cheek. “And Yamato?”

“He's bit out of it right now, but the only thing that really seems to pain him for the moment is his arm though by tomorrow he'll probably be dealing with a bad headache,” she had told him as she had looked at the others for a moment before she looked back at Tsunomon. “How about you Tsunomon?”

“It hurts, but it isn't as bad as it could be. I am glad that I am mostly metal in my higher stage,” he had honestly told her and she had nodded...

“Takeru?” Patamon asked and Takeru glanced at his friend who was sitting on top of his desk head tilted slightly to the side. Takeru blinked having failed to notice Patamon's arrival obviously lost in thought again.

“Sorry,” Takeru mumbled as he pulled the bento boxes out and opened them up so Patamon could eat. The small Digimon watched him for a moment longer before he began to eat while Takeru just picked at his.

In the end, Taichi had ended up staying the night while Hikari and Kohana had stayed at Miyako's just in case. Not long after Sora had left Krista had stopped by to pick up Lee to take back to the hotel they where currently staying at. It was strange having Taichi stay over since the only time something like this had happened was when he was younger and Taichi had stayed the night at Takeru's fathers apartment the same time Takeru was for one of Yamato's birthday parties. Takeru had remembered back then how happy he was to see Taichi at the party too because he was the only one of Yamato's same age male friends that he knew.

As Takeru picked at his lunch hoping that if he continued it might suddenly strike his fancy he thought over different plans on how to beat Kitsumon, but not once could he actually think of a good plan. He could think of bad ones that put both him and Patamon at great risk, but not any good ones. A part of him was really tempted now to just use himself as bait and get it over with. Still he would have to wait until after everyone was back up to strength. Otherwise he would be putting himself in danger as well as anyone who happened to come save him. With how few Digimon could actually fight right now someone would probably end up in a lot worse condition then Yamato had or he had during this entire affair.

While he thought about the different things that could possibly happen if he rushed an attack or if Kitsumon himself attacked Takeru felt as his stomach began to turn and his cheeks suddenly flush. At that point his stomach just plain turned against him and he stood up quickly knocking his chair over as he did so then he rushed for the bathroom hearing more then one of his friends call after him.

When he walked out of a bathroom stall a bit later and over to the sink he noticed Daisuke was leaned up against a wall with V-mon and Patamon. “You feeling okay?” he asked Takeru as Takeru washed his hands and rinsed his mouth out.

“I'm fine though I'm not sure what caused that to happen,” Takeru told him as he glanced up at the mirror. He was beginning to look like Trace with how little sleep he had been getting lately. He could see Daisuke starring at him in the side of the mirror and it was obvious that his friend didn't really believe him. Takeru sighed and turned to look at him for a moment before heading back to the classroom. Halfway there Takeru felt Patamon land on his head.

“Do you want to go home?” Patamon asked him as Takeru walked. Takeru thought over the question for a moment before he answered.

“No what I want is to see my brother but if I show up at the hospital half way through the school day mom wouldn't be very happy with me,” he told Patamon a little irritated at his mother since she had made him go to school today.

“Its not your fault you know,” Patamon told him causing Takeru to stop in his tracks. “You took the course of action you thought best and even though Metal Garurumon and Yamato where hurt in the end everyone came out of the fight. If you had still been on Metal Garurumon's back when the darkness had descended I think things would have ended a lot worse because I wouldn't have been able to help you guys.”

“At least you didn't say I couldn't have known what would happen,” Takeru mumbled as he continued on his way. Once he reached his desk he closed his bento box back up and returned it to his bag. He was grateful when Patamon joined Tailmon and Tsumon to finish his so Takeru didn't have to watch him eat. So instead Takeru spent his lunch erasing what he had drawn in his notes making sure if he actually felt like taking notes sometime today he could.

Still, despite this when classes did resume Takeru didn't really pay attention, again. Instead his focus was still on ways they could possibly beat Kitsumon. The problem was his speed. None of The Digimon could match it though both Kusarimon and Sou'Zakamon came close and maybe if they where lucky when they reached higher forms they could match him in speed, but there was no guarantee of that. Especially since Takeru felt that Rascmon should have already evolved by now, but he hadn't yet Tsumon had managed to beat him in that aspect despite the fact that Rascmon was older then him.

_ Might have to do with how Rascmon came about... I mean Bithamon hasn't even evolved yet... The highest level Digimon they have right now is Wizarmon...  _ he thought as he looked out the window.  _ If only Patamon still had Guardian Mode, _ Takeru thought with a sigh. Yet, he had not seen any sign that the mode was still available to his Digimon.  _ There just has to be something we're missing or... Something! _ He felt like banging his head on his desk and probably would have done so if he wasn't in the middle of class...

He was grateful when the bell finally ran to signify the end of the school day and he quickly packed all of his stuff away not really sure just what all he would need if they did happen to have homework assigned to them. Then he waited on the others to finish up and once they where done he followed them to the shoe lockers. On their way they saw Aiden rush past them trying his hardest not to run into anyone. “Great...” Daisuke said as he watched Aiden run past the shoe lockers. “I have a feeling that Kitsumon may be planning something...”

“Wonderful! Just what we need!” Hikari said as she took her cellphone out to message her brother just in case Daisuke was right. Takeru just shook his head hoping Aiden hadn't rushed out because Kitsumon _did_ have something planned. He really didn't want to have to go through another fight so soon but something told him that Daisuke had the right idea about what was about to happen.

So it was decided that it would be best if Daisuke and Ken walked out first with their two Digimon followed by the three girls then at last Takeru and Patamon would follow them out that way if something really was about to happen Takeru would have ample warning. What good it would do him he had no idea, but it made his friends feel better so Takeru went along with their plan.

Daisuke and Ken had barely stepped out of the door when an attack came at them from the sky. Before it could hit them Takeru saw their D3's flash causing V-mon and Wormmon to jogress evolve to Imperial Dramon Dragon Mode to block the attack. Once he had the Digimon switched to Fighter Mode now ready for battle.

“That was diffidently from Omegamon Zwart!” Hikari shouted as she ran out with Tailmon. A flash of light later and Ofanimon was ready to battle. Kohana followed after her with Tsumon, Miyako and Hawkmon.

“Let's go Patamon,” Takeru told him as he followed after the others. By the time he got out there Tsumon had evolved to Sou'Zakamon and Hawkmon had armored evolved to Holsmon. Between the two of them they where able to handle Black War Graymon while Ofanimon battled Black Metal Garurumon. As for Imperial Dramon, he was once again fighting the tiny but strong Minervamon. Which left Patamon free to stay on the sideline like Taichi had wanted.

“Yohoo! Didja miss me?” Minervamon asked as she rushed at Imperial Dramon. The only response from the dragon Digimon was a groan. Obviously he would have been quite happy if she hadn't shown up. Imperial Dramon did manage to send her flying first, however, and he even made sure she wouldn't crash into anything too important at the same time. While she was recovering, Imperial Dramon was suddenly attacked by Kitsumon using his sword wind attack. Imperial Dramon was able to dodge it, but now he was facing two Ultimate level Digimon on his own and defending and dodging was about all he could do against them even then more attacks where hitting rather then missing.

“I have to help him,” Patamon shouted as he hoped off of Takeru's head. 

A very small part of Takeru wanted to tell Patamon to stay out of it for his own sake, but instead Takeru shouted, “Kick their butt Patamon!.” The small Digimon nodded and a flash of light later Seraphimon was flying to join the battle.

Seraphimon tried to pull Minervamon off Imperial Dramon so the dragon Digimon could concentrate on Kitsumon instead, but the viking Digimon wouldn't pull out of the fight. Which meant Seraphimon was forced to battle the trickster instead something the others didn't like.

“How much longer until Taichi shows up?” Daisuke asked as he watched Minervamon force Imperial Dramon further away from Seraphimon and Kitsumon.

“I don't know I'm not getting any response from him,” Hikari told him her worry evident in her voice. Taichi had promised to keep his cellphone on and close at hand even in his classes so for him not to respond meant something had to have happened to him.

“Maybe Kitsumon planned this out more thoroughly and sent something to keep Taichi busy,” Miyako suggested.

“I hope not otherwise we might be in trouble,” Ken said and the others agreed. Just then Black Metal Garurumon and Black war Greymon jogress evolved to Omegamon Zwart and began to concentrate his attacks on the two lower level Digimon ignoring Ofanimon completely. When Ofanimon moved to stop the attacks and turn his attention onto her Kitsumon momentarily broke off the fight with Seraphimon to stop her. 

_ He's changing his fighting style again!  _ Takeru thought as he glared at the fox Digimon.

As for Seraphimon he was prevented from helping the lower levels by Minervamon who after knocking Imperial Dramon Fighter Mode flying sent Seraphimon flying as well causing a few screams and a few Digimon to evolve to protect their friends. Takeru was grateful that they where smart enough to stay out of the fighting at least.

The problem with this fighting arrangement was Sou'Zakamon was faster then Omegamon Zwart and was able to thwart most of his attacks with one of his own. However, the aim of the new fighting style was to simply separate the two lower level Digimon away from the others and once Omegamon Zwart achieved this he devolved back down to Black Metal Garurumon and Black War Greymon to press the attack.

The two higher Digimon where more used to fighting as a team then the two lower ones and soon had them cornered. It seemed like they where going to loose until Imperial Dramon managed to get past Mernivamon while Seraphimon kept her occupied in order to stop the duo from forcing Sou'Zakamon and Holsmon out of the battle.

“He's changing his tactic's again,” Takeru voiced aloud this time as Imperial Dramon sent Black Metal Garurumon flying with an attack from his cannon then the dragon Digimon rushed Black War Greymon.

“Hey! We're still fighting!” Minervamon shouted as she chased after Imperial Dramon leaving Seraphimon free to help Ofanimon for the moment. When she managed to place herself in between Imperial Dramon and Black War Greymon the black dragon Digimon took advantage of it to help Black Metal Garurumon with the two low level Digimon again while Kitsumon proceeded to make himself a handful for the two angelic Digimon going from play mode to serious mode. In the end the two low level Digimon where forced to quite the battle when they where forcibly devolved by the onslaught of attacks from the two Ultimate Digimon. 

Now that Sou'Zakamon and Holsmon where out of battle the two Ultimate level Digimon went to help Kitsumon with Seraphimon and Ofanimon. They focused on separating Ofanimon from Kitsumon so that the fox Digimon could fight Seraphimon on his own. From where he stood Takeru could tell the two angelic Digimon where reaching their limit fighting the three Ultimate level Digimon on their own and it did not help that Black Metal Garurumon and Black War Greymon kept going from those forms to Omegamon Zwart and back again when it was adventitious to them. He could see Aiden across the street his strange Digivices in hands with the bracelets attached to his arms. It was obvious that he was becoming tired, yet he continued to supply his Digimon with power and had no obvious thoughts of retreat.

Then one of the times the two Digimon where Omegamon Zwart War Greymon announced his arrival with an attack on the jogress Digimon. It was obvious to the Chosen Children that he had already been in one battle since there was obvious damage to his armor. Still with his help Ofanimon would be able to stand on equal ground with the two black Digimon. Yet as they watched it was obvious that the three Digimon where losing ground and every time Imperial Dramon tried to help them Minervamon would make sure he wasn't able to.

“Get out of my way already!” Imperial Dramon shouted as he started a chain of quick attacks with the intention of pushing Minervamon back.

“Nuh-ah! Kitsumon said that if we get Seraphimon killed today that I get to keep Aiden!” she shouted as she used her small size to her advantage to dodge the larger Digimon's attacks.

“What?” Imperial Dramon questioned unsure that he had heard her correctly. She took advantage of his shock to begin her own onslaught of attacks.

“I. Get. To. Keep. Him.” she said enunciating each word and driving them in with an attack. Imperial Dramon wasn't sure what to think of her little announcement. 

Takeru was beginning to worry about Seraphimon's safety when out of the corner of his eye he saw Aiden collapse to the ground. This caused Black War Greymon and Black Metal Garurumon to retreat in order to aid their friend. The two devolved almost as soon as they had landed then they rushed over to Aiden. From what Takeru could tell the red headed teen had passed out and he was reminded of the warning Trace had given Kohana and Tsumon on the use of the bracelet he had given them. It was obvious that Aiden had pushed himself to far this time and was now paying the consequences of doing so.

Taichi himself finally showed up right when War Greymon helped Imperial Dramon send Minervamon flying. Like War Greymon he showed signs of being in a fight with a few cuts on his arms and what would be a nasty bruise by tomorrow morning. “Kitsumon had an ambush waiting for us on the way out of class,” he explained as he slowed down to a walk as he approached the group.

“We thought something like that might have happened,” Hikari told him as she looked over her brother's injuries.

Minervamon was about ready to reenter the battle when she spotted Aiden whose Digimon where trying to support his weight to get him out of there. “Oh no poor Aiden,” she said and at that point she lost all interest in battle in favor of helping Aiden and his Digimon. Apparently her loyalty was stronger to the teen then it was for the fox. Which meant Kitsumon was on his own to face the four Ultimate level Digimon which made them quiet happy.

Kitsumon growled as he faced them down weighing the odds as to whether or not he could actually beat them. Seraphimon and Ofanimon where more then ready to continue fighting and even though War Greymon had suffered damage from the first fight he was in he was more then willing to go on if he had to. As for Imperial Dramon he was happy to be able to actually fight instead of being tossed all over the place like what had happened with Minervamon.

In the end Kitsumon thought it best to retreat for the moment though he left Aiden to the care of his two Digimon and Minervamon. So they had ended up winning in the end, but why did it feel more like a loss to Takeru?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N – For those who can't figure it out Takeru had a panic attack during lunch time. It can happen if you work yourself up like he was doing. Being the type of person he is he wouldn't have very many of them before if at all which is why even he is unsure what happened.


	20. Not Holding Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copy righted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it’s Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copy right for it.
> 
> Alright guys you are now officially caught up to FF.net with this chapter. Normally I do once a month updates but due to what may be Rheumatoid Arthritis in my hands my updates have been off lately. However now that I have gone through all the chapters to edit them to post up here I am going to go work on the next chapter and hopefully have it ready for next month :D

_Kitsumon growled as he faced them down weighing the odds as to whether or not he could actually beat them. Seraphimon and Ofanimon where more then ready to continue fighting and even though War Greymon had suffered damage from the first fight he was in he was more then willing to go on if he had to. As for Imperial Dramon he was happy to be able to actually fight instead of being tossed all over the place like what had happened with Minervamon._

_In the end Kitsumon thought it best to retreat for the moment though he left Aiden to the care of his two Digimon and Minervamon. So they had ended up winning in the end, but why did it feel more like a loss to Takeru?_

When Seraphimon had almost landed the angelic Digimon practically collapsed as he devolved down to Tokamon causing Takeru to catch him in his arms to prevent him from falling to the ground. Once the Digimon was sure Takeru wouldn't drop him, Tokamon snuggled into Takeru's arms further then sighed contently and almost instantly fell asleep. Takeru starred at the little white Digimon for a bit as he realized that if Kitsumon had chosen to continue the fight it most likely would've have ended badly for his friend. He knew now that Seraphimon had been bluffing when he had acted like he could continue fighting without any problems. He tightened his grip a bit on Tokamon causing the Digimon to shift slightly in his sleep then Takeru looked at his friends.  _ Things can't keep going on like this or its going to get really bad for us, _ Takeru realized as he looked around.

Kohana was currently treating a wound on Tsumon's arm with a small first aid kit she now kept in her bag like the others. The young Digimon had several other injuries already treated by her so did Hawkmon courtesy of Miyako. Like Tokamon had done Imperial Dramon Fighter Mode had devolved to his Baby Two stages though they hadn't fallen asleep like Tokamon had though it looked like they might at any moment. Like Tsumon, Hawkmon was still being treated for injuries. Injury wise Agumon was probably in the worse shape, but at least he didn't seem as exhausted as Takeru thought he would be and Taichi was already starting treatment of his Digimon. Out of all of them Ofanimon, who had devolved to Tailmon, was in the best shape at the moment.

“If he attacks again sometime soon we're going to be in trouble,” Ken said voicing aloud what Takeru was currently thinking.

“Something must have made him decide it was best to change his tactic’s, but what?” Taichi mumbled to himself as he tended to Agumon's wounds. No one had an answer, but all of them where worried just what it might be.

Daisuke sighed as he picked up his Digimon and said, “Whatever it is I doubt we'll like it. I mean whatever can push Kitsumon like this can only mean bad news for us.”

“Maybe if we're lucky he'll make mistakes in his rush?” Tsumon suggested as he flexed his arm now that Kohana's treatment was done. He wanted to make sure the bandage wasn't so tight that he wouldn't have free range of his arm.

“We can only hope,” Takeru said and the others nodded.

After everyone had been tended to Taichi went ahead and drove Takeru to the hospital so he could visit Yamato while the others went to get their Digimon something to eat in hopes of them being able to fight sooner rather then later in case Kitsumon decided to attack them again. On the way to Yamato's room they ran into Sora and while Taichi spoke to her about what had happened Takeru continued onwards still carrying a sleeping Tokamon. He was about to walk into the room when he head voices inside; “I'm afraid about what is going to happen next.” It was easy enough for Takeru to recognize the voice as Trace's and Takeru figured he must have taken advantage of them bring in school to speak with his brother alone though why he would want to talk to Yamato alone he didn't really know.

“They where just in another fight according to the text message Daisuke sent me and he didn't really see it as their win,” he heard Yamato say then his older brother sighed. “It's beginning to wear on him as well.”

“If he could actually grab a few hours of sleep it wouldn't be so bad but who am I to talk about that,” Trace joked as he paced, but there was no humor in his voice. There was nothing funny about their situation and if it wouldn't have put his sister at risk she would have her guard the nightmare realm so hopefully Takeru could get some rest, but due to what had happened the last time she had gone there he wouldn't dare ask her. When he got his key back he was going to put the damn thing on a long chain that he'd never take it off of!

“I'm afraid what will happen to him if this continues...” he heard Yamato say which caused Takeru to look down at Tokamon. It was true that what Kitsumon was doing was beginning to really get at him the proof being his tangled up emotions, but he hadn't realized that until today it had been all that obvious to anyone besides Taichi after what had happened between the two of them. He had, of course, figured that his brother would have noticed because he had only once in his life successfully hidden from him how he felt about things, but even Trace had noticed and he hadn't even known him for a year yet!

_ Has everyone else noticed or just those three?  _ He wondered as he leaned back against the wall.  _ If the look Daisuke gave me earlier was any hint then I can guess he knows as well and if he knows then no doubt Hikari does. She's almost as hard as Yamato when it comes to hiding things from her... _

Takeru waited until they had stopped speaking for a few minutes before he walked in to the room so he didn't accidentally walk in on something they obviously didn't want him to here. “Hey Yamato,” he greeted a slight smile on his face that was easier then he thought it would be. Then again he was relieved to see his brother was mostly alright for himself despite everyone's reassurance. As Takeru looked around the room he noticed Rascmon was curled up in a corner out of the way while Tsunomon used him as a pillow which made Takeru wonder just how long Trace had actually been here.

“I was wondering if you where going to show up today,” Yamato told him and the way his brother was looking at him Takeru had a feeling his brother knew all to well just what type of emotional state he was in.

_ At least he's not treating my like I'll break any moment. Yet...  _ “I tried to come earlier today, but mom wouldn't let me. She said I've missed too much school as it is,” he explained to his brother as he kept near the door not sure just how his brother would react to him. Yamato and Trace both turned their attention to Tokamon sound asleep in Takeru's arms.

“Daisuke had told me about the fight, but he hadn't told me just how bad it was. How long as he been asleep?” he asked as he glanced at Trace.

“He passed out and devolved before he had even landed,” Takeru answered as he looked at Tokamon. “I doubt anyone, but maybe Tsumon and Tailmon will be able to evolve higher then Adult if Kitsumon should suddenly show up. Maybe Agumon, but I don't know for sure...” 

“Someone is obviously getting tired of waiting around. Kitsumon doesn't seem to mind attempting to whittle you down slowly to get what he wants, but someone else isn't it seems and is pushing him to hurry up and finish this,” Trace said as he moved to a chair near Rascmon and sat down. The dog Digimon lifted his head when he heard Trace sit then lowered it again going back to sleep when he realized they would be there longer.

“You mean the Law Key holder,” Takeru said glad that they where on a “safe” subject for the moment and Trace nodded. “Why now though? They seemed fine before to let Kitsumon move at his own pace.”

“Something must have changed their plans. Something that maybe if we could figure it out might help us win,” Yamato said causing the other two to nod their heads. “The question is what though...”

“Can you think of anything that might have changed their plans, Takeru?” Trace asked him while Takeru took the other seat in the room near Yamato's bed. Takeru adjusted his hold on Tokamon as he thought over Trace's question carefully.

“Maybe it has something to do with whatever it is Aiden is hoping to achieve,” Takeru suggested since it was the only thing he could think of for the moment.

The other two thought over it for a bit then Trace shook his head. “I doubt Aiden on his own could do anything to derail their plans. I mean what is he even doing anyway besides helping Kitsumon in the fight against us I mean.”

“Something about the virus is all I know...” Takeru told him with a shrug. Aiden hadn't been forthcoming about his plans or what he was doing and Takeru doubted he would any time soon.

They continued to discuss things for awhile and soon they where joined by Taichi and Sora. None of them could figure out just why Kitsumon would suddenly start rushing when, though they loathed to admit it, he loved to play around with them especially Takeru and Tokamon. It just didn't make any sense to any of them. While they where talking Tokamon finally woke up at which point Sora suggested getting the Digimon something to eat. Takeru was about to stand to do just that when Sora took Tokamon from him instead then whispered to him, “I'll take him Takeru. I think it'll be a good idea for the two of you to talk.” Taichi went with her to get Agumon something to eat and Trace tagged along with Rascmon and Tsunomon since the Digimon had yet to get off the fiery Dog Digimon stating that he and Rascmon hadn't eaten anything since breakfast that morning. It was obvious the others had caught onto Sora's idea.

Takeru watched them go then turned his attention to his brother. “How are you feeling?” he asked him.

“My arm is aching and I have a nice headache but besides that I'm fine,” Yamato told him and shrugged slightly. “What about you? That fight yesterday couldn't have been pleasant with those bruised ribs of yours.”

Takeru nodded as he answer, “My chest hurts worse then it has since I first bruised them, but it's bearable thanks to the medicine.”

“Good I was kind of afraid that they might have been hurt worse. Patamon told me how Metal Garurumon ended up crashing into you in his effort to block the attack...”

Takeru wanted to ask him why he had done such a stupid thing in the first place, but instead said, “Thank you for that by the way.”

Yamato sighed as he adjusted the sling for his arm. “In all honesty we panicked Takeru or more like I did. There where better options then what we did, but when Metal Garurumon told me what was going on I told him to protect you and Seraphimon. We were lucky it didn't turn out worse then it did. Not only did we leave you almost completely defenseless since neither one of you could really see, but I could have lost him by telling him to do that,” Yamato told him as shook his head.

Takeru blinked as he watched his brother. He had been to busy feeling sorry for himself to really consider what Yamato had even said, but he was right.  _ I'm messed up more then I thought if that hadn't even occurred to me... _ he thought to himself as he gave himself a mental shake. Metal Garurumon usually had good judgment, but he had shown in the past that when Yamato got emotional he would respond quicker to that then his own instinct. It was the same with all their Digimon; Chosen Children first themselves second. Emotions affected the Digimon greatly as several incidents in their own past showed.

“Yamato I'm sor-,” he began but Yamato held up his hand to stop him.

“Just learn from it Takeru that's all I ask. It's not like we all haven't made mistakes before. I've made some real big ones in the past after all so I have no reason to get mad at you. Just don't go chasing after run away Digimon like that again, alright? At leas not until this mess is all over with” he asked and Takeru nodded. “Good. Now do me a favor and stay out of trouble while I'm in here, alright?”

Takeru smiled as he looked at his brother. “Can't make any promises with the way things are going right now, but I'll do my best. Besides do you really think Taichi is going to let me out of his sight after what happen?”

“He better not. If he did I wouldn't even have to do anything Hikari would beat him up for loosing track of her best friend. There would be nothing left for me to do thanks to her,” Yamato told him and Takeru agreed with him. If anything did happen to him during Taichi's watch Hikari would never let him live it down. He really was lucky to have a friend like her.

After awhile the others returned with the satiated Digimon and not long after that Krista showed up with Luna, Lee, Lexi and their Digimon to pick up Trace to head back to the hotel for the night. Sora, Taichi and Takeru stayed until visiting hours where over then Taichi and Takeru went back to Takeru's apartment for the night. His mother had obviously heard about the battle at the school because there was quiet a large dinner waiting for them and even though the Digimon had only eaten a few hours earlier the two where more then happy to have more. Takeru had almost forgotten how much of a glutton exhausted Digimon could be, almost. He was just glad that obtaining food wasn't an issue.

That night, despite his best efforts to stay awake with the help of several energy drinks, Takeru ended up falling asleep while he was working on his story in the living room so as not to bother the sleeping Digimon and Taichi. He was lucky though because that night Kitsumon was too busy shouting at Aiden, his two Digimon, Minervamon for their failure and planing things out to bother him much less try to attack him in his dreams. Still Takeru had troubling dreams of not only his brother but his friends being hurt while he was never able to do anything to help them. More then once he woke up that night with a start only to fall back asleep thanks to pure exhaustion. He just couldn't win no matter what it seemed...

-X-

The next day, Takeru sat at his desk paying a little better attention to what was around him then he had the previous day. This was how he managed to notice that when the late bell rang Aiden wasn't in the classroom nor did he show up during the periods before lunch which meant most likely he was a no show that day. Takeru sat with his friends during lunch all of them moving their desks so they could talk and eat at the same time since Takeru seemed more willing to have company today then he had yesterday.

“Its kind of worrisome that he didn't show up today...” Hikari said at one point as she glanced at Aiden's desk.

“It makes me wonder if Kitsumon is plotting something else,” Daisuke said as he kept his attention to his bento box so he didn't see Chibimon agree with him. 

“Yes there's that but its also the fact that he fainted yesterday. I'm worried that he might be pushing himself to far,” Hikari said then sighed.

“It would be more like Kitsumon is pushing him to hard I don't see him pushing himself just because... Though it was interesting to see Minervamon leave the battle when he fainted...” Takeru said before he took a bite of food. Takeru might not like Aiden at the moment, but since his help with the virus and his little speech to him on the roof he kept a more open mind about him. Still didn't really trust him, but he was willing to give him some slack.

“Speaking of Minervamon... She said that Kitsumon promised to give her Aiden if they managed to erase Seraphimon,” Chibimon told them as he set his bento box down having ignored the chopsticks with it. Everyone that was there turned to look at him a little wide eyed. Obviously the two Digimon hadn't told anyone else what they had heard as Imperial Dramon Fighter Mode. 

“What the he---” Daisuke began only to be interrupted by what sounded like an explosion followed by several screams around the school. They looked at each other again then they began to stand up as an announcement came on over the intercom;

“All students please return to your classrooms and wait for your teachers instructions. I repeat all students please return to your classrooms do not leave your seats unless instructed to by your teacher!“

Daisuke blatantly ignored the announcement and moved over to the window while the classroom door opened as several of their classmates began to return to their desks. He reached them in time to see Black War Greymon fly past the window causing several of their classmates to run for the window to get a look at the Ultimate level Digimon while Daisuke backed off so he didn't get caught in the growing crowd.

“Um guys?” Daisuke said pointing to the windows looking at his friends. Before Takeru and the others could say anything about the Digimon's sudden appearance the classmates that had ran towards the windows screamed then ducked as a Digimon's attack caused the glass to shatter and explode into the classroom. Daisuke ducked as the attack hit avoiding the flying glass while Takeru and the others in the classroom ducked underneath their desks to avoid it.

Takeru ran for a now open spot in the window once the glass had fell to the floor several piece's crunching under his boots and looked out spotting Black War Greymon and Black Metal Garurumon attacking random area's of the school grounds without a care with their distant attacks. Minervamon was there as well swinging around a tree she was holding instead of her sword sending a few benches flying. From what Takeru could see they weren't the only Digimon around either he spotted a couple more Ultimate's and a handful of Perfects.

“So much for not involving innocents,” Ken said as he saw the other Digimon that had accompanied the three and where helping in the attack. He then spotted Hawkmon flying out of the second story window and watched as he evolved to Holsmon. Soon Tailmon and Tsumon went out the window as well the two evolving to their highest stages respectively Tailmon relying on her D3 to do so. 

Takeru ran to his desk to get his phone out and began to send messages to the other Chosen Children while his friends and their Digimon who couldn't evolve ran for the main entrance. “What a time to not be able to evolve,” Tokamon said from where he stood on Takeru's desk.

“That's most likely exactly why they are attacking now,” Takeru told him as he sent text messages as fast as he could.

“Something doesn't seem right about this,” Tokamon pointed out as he watched as a couple Digimon belonging to classmates start to reflect attacks away from the school to the best of their ability. Takeru looked out the window as he pushed what was left of his bento towards Tokamon. Tokamon looked at it then at Takeru and quickly began to eat the leftovers.

“I know it has me worried,” Takeru said hoping that Tokamon would be able to evolve to Patamon and soon because from the stage at least he would be able to armor evolve if nothing else. Once the small Digimon had finished Takeru picked him up and moved as fast as he could with his bruised ribs to join his friends pushing past his homeroom teacher in the process.

“Takeru wait!” he heard his teacher shout after him but Takeru ignored him and continued forward. He was in the shoe locker area when the ground shook from a large impact causing him to stumble into the lockers with a wince. 

“Takeru are you okay?” Tokamon asked as Takeru pushed away from the lockers and headed for the doors.

“I”m fine though its beginning to look like we're way over our heads with this one,” Takeru told him. He found his friends standing by the side of the school with their Digimon that could not currently evolve. Takeru joined him his attention on the fighting. He was in time to see Ofanimon finish off one of the Digimon that had followed Black War Greymon and Black Metal Garurumon in order to get them off Holsmon. 

“There are too many of them this time,” Hikari said as Ofanimon dodged an attack from Omegamon Zwart having just Jogress Evolved to attack her.

“We're not the only ones fighting this time either,” Daisuke said pointing out several Digimon that, being fed up with defense only since the Digimon where now openly attacking the school, were on the attack. Though they where weaker then the enemy since most of them could only evolve to their Adult stage those Digimon that were from the school were smart enough to stay in groups to combine their power, but would not hesitate to scatter to avoid an incoming attack aimed at them. Some of them had been knocked out of the battle already and those who couldn't really evolve even to Adult stage would retrieve the injured so their humans didn't try to save them and make the situation more complicated. Takeru watched what was happening pleasantly surprised to see the other Digimon helping in the fight, but he was also a little worried. He just hoped that they would know when it was best to back out of the fight instead of chancing being erased unlike some Digimon had done in their past...

  
  


In a secluded area of the school that was out of sight of the Chosen Children Aiden stood watching the battle. He was tired and his body felt hot which warned him that he most likely had a fever that would probably get worse with the way things where going for him lately. The only reason he was even here and was standing was because of Kitsumon's claws at his neck. The Fox Digimon was not at all pleased with the way the last few battles had turned out and was planning to finish it this time no matter what the cost. Sadly it looked like Aiden was going to have to pay it.

In his hands Aiden held both of his Digivices along with the bracelets having not the time to put them on earlier thanks to Kitsumon rushing him. It was shocking to him to see all the Digimon working together, but he was a bit happy as well. He was afraid this battle would have almost immediately have ended in Kitsumon's favor knowing how few of the Chosen Childrens Digimon could evolve. He told himself he only felt happy because it gave him more time to figure out just what was going on and how the virus had made it to this world, but in all honesty the idea that he might someday have to erase a Digimon made his stomach churn.

“You realize if I get worse you'll have to deal with a very pissed off Minervamon, right?” Aiden questioned Kitsumon as the two of them watched the battle. Kitsumon had already had a fight with her earlier that day when he had dragged Aiden out of bed to fight, but had used Aiden as bait to make her fight promising her things Aiden knew full well Kitsumon would not deliver. He had a bad feeling that the hyper female Digimon's usefulness was ending as far as Kitsumon was concerned. Her affection towards him was strange and a bit creepy at times but Minervamon had never done anything bad to him and he would be sad if anything happened to her. 

Kitsumon's only response was to move his claws closer to Aiden's neck. Not enough to pierce the skin, at least not yet, but enough to apply pressure. Aiden wisely decided to keep quiet and think of a way out of the mess he was currently in. Still he did no regret the choice he had made siding with the psychopathic Digimon even if it was getting him in more trouble then what he liked. Some things where just to important and deadly to just walk away from the situation he was in.

  
  


Takeru was watching the battle unfold when, from the corner of his eye, he saw Kohana flinch. “Are you okay?” Hikari asked having seen her flinch as well.

Kohana looked at Hikari and answered, “The bracelet is getting hot,” while wishing they hadn't switched to their summer uniforms just yet because at least then she would have some protection against the heat of the bracelet. Hikari pulled the neck bow from her uniform and carefully wrapped it around the bracelet. She had to use Kohana's as well to completely cover the bracelet.

When she was done she asked, “Better?” and Kohana nodded. Takeru starred at the bracelet for a moment noticing that is was giving off a light as well that he could barely see through the red ribbon.

_ What is going on with it?  _ He wondered as he turned his attention back to the battle in time to see Sou'Zakamon block an attack for a Digimon the same level as him. Then he flew at the one who at sent the attack readying one of his own attacks for counter. Still, Sou'Zakamon showed his newbie status as a fighter when one Digimon nearly got him from behind. Nearly only because a large cat like Digimon had not only cleared the school's fence but the distance between it and the flying Digimon biting down on one of its legs. Then the cat like Digimon used its weight to pull the large insect like Digimon to the ground where the cat like Digimon was soon joined by none other then Kusarimon.

The cat like Digimon was the around the same size as Garurumon being of equal size to Kusarimon. It's slightly puffy fur was completely black in color and it had two tails instead of one. The Digimon's eyes where green in color and claws that would make Gryzmon jealous with their sharpness. Strangely enough there where five crystals floating around it shaped like prisms. What gave away the cat Digimon's identity wasn't just the fact Kusarimon was with it, but the stars and wire earring it wore. The two where soon joined by Gryzmon himself.

“Bithamon must have evolved,” Takeru said stating the obvious as he watched the three Digimon continuously attack the insect Digimon. Every time it managed to get away from them Bithamon's evolved form would drag it back down to the two waiting Digimon.

“She... She evolved... On our way here,” Trace answered between breaths having ran up to join the Chosen Children. When they had almost reached the school and had saw how bad things where not only had Bithamon suddenly evolved almost squishing Luna, Trace and Lee, who were on Kusarimon's back, but Kusarimon had kicked them off so they could hurry and join the fight. Bithamon's evolve stage had only reached the fighting first due to her very excellent jumping ability. _She_ didn't have to worry about traffic unlike Kusarimon. Gryzmon had actually arrived on Kusarimon's back having evolved before the large dog like Digimon had jumped the fence to aid the cat like Digimon.

Takeru turned to look at Trace and noticed Luna and Lee coming towards them as well. Like Kohana's bracelet the three siblings bracelets where producing light as well. Trace had his gloves to protect him from the heat his was producing while Luna had wrapped her cloth belt around hers. As for Lee, his was wrapped in a green cloth of some sort most likely supplied by Luna.

“What's her name now?” Hikari asked as she glanced at them before watching as the three Digimon scattered as the insect Digimon finally got over it's surprise to attack them.

“Nekitsomon...” Luna answered when she joined the group. “Normal speed but obviously one hell of a jumper.” Almost as if to demonstrate that Nekitsomon jumped up once again in an attempt to drag the insect Digimon down again but he was waiting for her. The insect Digimon attacked her and that was when the crystals came into play as they maneuvered themselves in front of her.

“Cryst Guard!” Nekitsomon shouted and the crystals glowed brightly creating a barrier. The barrier didn't hold up against the Perfect Digimon's attack but by the time the attack broke through she was already falling down to the ground and was able to avoid the attack. When she landed she shook herself bodily then moved into a pouncing position watching the insect Digimon closely.

“Sorry we can't be more use then this,” Luna told them with a sigh as she watched her's and her brothers Digimon. 

“At least we can help them instead of just getting in the way this time,” Lee said as he watched. Luna nodded then looked at her twin. He was at the moment starring at his gloves.

“Don't even think about it,” Luna whispered at him as she grabbed hold of his arm with both of hers effectively keeping him there with her for now.

“Wouldn't even do it any way... There is a difference between the Digimon's way of erasing and my way. At least their way they can possibly come back mine they don't stand a chance,” Trace whispered back as he stuffed his hands into his pockets so he couldn't look at the anymore. Still Luna held on afraid he would try any way if things started going down hill. 

As the battle between the school Digimon and Kitsumon's Digimon continued several of the Chosen Children's Digimon began to show up to join the fight already evolved to their highest stages starting with Digmon, who upon seeing Nekitsomon's fighting style, joined her group since he would be the most help there.

“Their not even working together,” Iori pointed out when he arrived and indeed besides Minervamon, Black War Greymon and Black Metal Garurumon the other Digimon where content to do what they wanted as long as they were allowed to fight. A couple of fights even broke out amongst themselves as they accidentally or even purposefully hit one another. The school Digimon where more then willing to leave them alone when it happened and even began to exploit it at times some of the lower Adult level Digimon egging the fights on. 

Once War Greymon arrived Ofanimon and him began to concentrate on Black War Greymon and Black Metal Garurumon. The four Digimon continued to clash not a one of them willing to back down no matter how much damage they took. Ofanimon and War Greymon began to notice that the longer the battle went on the less Black Metal Garurumon and and Black War Greymon would Jogress Evolve. The two only did when they had no real choice but to do so to get themselves out of a bad situation and even then they where more willing to take the damage rather then waste the energy Jogress Evolving took. It made Ofanimon concerned and was almost enough to make her back off on her attacks except she knew that if she did they would take advantage of it and there was no way she would allow them past her. Black War Greymon and Black Metal Garurumon where willing to be very reckless in order to win.

As for Minervamon she was content trying to swat Sou'Zakamon now since Imperial Dramon wasn't participating. The angelic Digimon took advantage of his higher speed level to just stay out of her way for the most part any way. Still, Minervamon could get quiet creative if she wanted to and the fact she was more then willing to do almost whatever it took to get what she wanted meant she did not hold back anything. Sou'Zakamon did notice one thing though about her though. Even though more then once she would throw a Child level Digimon at him to force him to catch it or let it get hurt since Minervamon could throw something so small very, _ very _ high not once did one of her attacks hit the low level Digimon. She was even going out of her way to make sure they didn't get hit by her. If he was a different type of Digimon Sou'Zakamon would have taken advantage of this but he didn't afraid it might have been a trap on her part and he really didn't want to put the other Digimon in harms way.

“Come down and fight me already!” Minervamon shouted as she threw the tree she had been trying to hit Sou'Zakamon with at him. The angelic Digimon flew out of the tree's path and watched as it hit the ground wondering what she was going to do now.

“So I can be tossed around like a stuffed toy? No, thank you!” Sou'Zakamon shouted back causing Minervamon to stomp the ground in frustration. Speed and flying was not a fair mix as far as she was concerned!

Slowly they where whittling away at the Digimon who seemed to be working for Kitsumon. There where a lot of Digimon from the school who had retreated though and Takeru had seen some of them take some major injuries. He had thought he even saw one that had been reverted to its Egg Stage but he wasn't to sure. The Digimon that had retrieved it had done so fairly quickly and had kept it out of sight. It was because they had done so that Takeru had a feeling he had seen correctly. They where trying to keep the others from panicking not the Digimon, though some of them might, but the human partners who might call them back if they thought it way to dangerous for their Digimon.

“Why isn't he pulling them back?” Hikari suddenly said causing Takeru to look at her.

“What do you mean?” Daisuke asked as he looked at her.

“Last time when we started turning the tide and winning Aiden pulled the Digimon back so they weren't erased. This time he isn't pulling them back,” Hikari pointed out as she looked at Daisuke. 

“Who said he's the one in charge of this fight? He might only be close enough to let Black Metal Garurumon and Black War Greymon Jogress evolve and that's it,” Trace said as he watched Kusarimon and the other three finally take down the insect Digimon. Well more like Digmon took it down once Nekitsomon managed to grab a hold of it and pull it down, but still Kusarimon helped!

“I don't think Minervamon would be helping if Aiden wasn't more involved then that...” Hikari said and Daisuke shook his head.

Daisuke then said, “After what Chibimon said? She'd be involved as long as she thought it would get her Aiden.”

“Why is she even so interested in him any way?” Ken asked as he watched Minervamon attempt to climb up a tree to get Sou'Zakamon while the angelic Digimon tried to keep a straight face about it. The Ultimate level Digimon scrambling up a tree was indeed a funny sight.

“Only way we'll know that is if Aiden or her tell us and I doubt either one of them will be very forthcoming about that bit of information,” Takeru said and the others nodded in agreement.

Well almost all the others Luna and her two brothers where slightly confused which lead Luna to ask, “What are you guys even talking about?”

“Kitsumon promised Minervamon before the last battle that if they managed to erase Seraphimon he'd give her Aiden,” Chibimon answered her.

“What? Did she think Aiden would just go with her without a fight?” Trace said and shook his head.

“Maybe she thinks Aiden is a prisoner somehow?” Miyako suggested. “I mean it's possible that's why she's helping Kitsumon because she thinks she's keeping him safe.”

“Somehow I doubt her intentions are as pure as that...”

  
  


Aiden watched as the battle started to become one sided due to the Digimon on Kitsumon's side refusing to work together. If he thought they would listen to him Aiden would have told them to have retreated after the first Digimon had been erased in fact he had almost done it after the fifth one. Yet Kitsumon had purposely chosen the most blood thirsty Digimon that he could find and it was in part the reason they where currently loosing. One by one the Digimon fell and still they refused to help one another until only one was left not counting his own Digimon and Minervamon. She was too tough for Sou'Zakamon to really do any damage to her all he served was to be a distraction reminding Aiden of a fly.

When that one finally fell Aiden closed his eyes tightly and turned away as best he could with Kitsumon's claws to his neck. At this point it was shear force of will that was keeping him on his feet. He was afraid if he did fall the bastard of a fox Digimon wouldn't remove his claws and Aiden would then be poisoned by them. He opened them when he heard the battle continuing. Why wasn't he calling them back? Aiden's stomach began to twist as he feared Kitsumon intended to sacrifice his two Digimon...

  
  


Despite the fact that they had obviously lost Black War Greymon and Black Metal Garurumon where refusing to retreat. Takeru wasn't even sure how they where still Ultimate's with all the damage they had taken. As for Minervamon she kept looking at the two Digimon then at the Chosen Childrens Digimon unsure just what she should do. The two Digimon where about to attack when they heard Aiden shout, “That's enough pull back already!” The two Digimon stopped both seemed shocked by the order but they where quick to fly off Minervamon chasing after them relieved.

Takeru watched them go then looked around at the damage that had been done to the school. He shook his head then mumbled, “I don't like this. Something isn't right,” and began to head back into the school building. A very frightening idea was beginning to form in his mind thanks to the battle. Black Metal Garurumon and Black War Greymon had been ready to throw their lives away if they had to was obvious enough by how reckless they had been fighting and how they had refused to retreat until Aiden had called them back. There was only one thing he could think of that could push those two so far and that was the safety of their human partner. He had seen his and his friends Digimon do it enough times to know it when he saw it.

When Takeru reached his classroom he set Tokamon down on his desk ignoring the glare he got from the teacher as he put his phone on silent mode and stuffed it in his pocket. Then for extra precaution he turned his D-terminal on because he had a feeling sooner or later he was going to get an e-mail and that e-mail may very well change the way things where going for good or bad. Takeru just wish he knew which it would be. A part of him also wished there was more that he could do. With a sigh he picked his chair up that had been knocked down in his rush to hide beneath his desk earlier and sat down to think since he had a feeling they where going to cancel classes for the rest of the day at any moment.

There just had to be something he could do...


	21. Chapter Twenty-One How Others View Things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copy righted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it’s Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copy right for it.
> 
> A/N – Alright guys here's a partial chapter just so I can get something up for ya. As to what is going on the colder it is getting the worse my hands are hurting and so far I has of yet found out what is going on with them. Hopefully when I see a specialist in January I'll finally have the answer. There is also a lot going on family wise which has calmed down for the moment. NaNoWriMo is coming up and I'm hoping the hype of it will get me to write despite the way my hands feel :D

Takeru had not been sitting at his desk for very long when one of the other teachers came to talk to their homeroom teacher. By then his friends had returned to the classroom escorted by one of the Physical Education teachers which alerted him to something being wrong. He could see Miyako standing in the hall way along Iori and the rest of the Chosen Children. With the way his home room teacher kept glancing into the hall way he had a feeling the Star Siblings where there as well. Not for the first time he wondered if Trace and Luna ever hated all the attention they drew in Japan due to their appearances. If it was him he would have been annoyed by now, but then again sleep deprivation made one irritable...

When the teacher returned to the classroom he looked at his students and said, “I've just been informed that the rest of the classes will be canceled for today due to what has occurred,” at which point he was interrupted by a couple of the students cheering but he spoke over them instead of waiting for them to finish, “ _ However _ there will be classes tomorrow so be sure to show up tomorrow!” Takeru stood with the rest of his classmates and began to put his stuff up when the teacher spoke again, “Takaishi-kun I want you to stay behind, please.” 

Takeru stopped what he was doing and looked at his friends, who some of had worried looks, then shrugged as he sat down. Hikari and the others tried to stay back but the homeroom teacher shook his head and said, “Go on he'll be out in a bit.” Slowly they left Hikari and Kohana casting a worried glance at Takeru and once everyone had left the classroom the teacher closed the doors then looked at the broken windows with a sigh. “We're going to have a lot of angry parents calling us tomorrow,” the teacher said as he began to walk over to where Takeru sat pulling up a chair for him to sit on.

Takeru glanced at Tokamon, who was laying now on Takeru's desktop, then at his teacher. “Mr. Hamada am I in trouble?” he asked trying to figure out just why his teacher wanted to talk to him. It was the only reason he could come up with and with what had just happened he wouldn't be all that surprised though it would be unfair of the school if he was.

“Why would you be in trouble? It's not like what happened is your fault though Aiden may have some questions to answer when he shows up again and yes I recognized his Digimon even in their evolved form,” Mr. Hamada told him shaking his head slightly. “No you're not in trouble Takeru not with us at least though several parents will no doubt be calling for the explosion of you and your friends because of what has occurred.”

Takeru's eyes widened at that as he sat up straighter and said, “Why? We haven't done anything wrong! In fact we're the victims here!”

His teacher smiled sympathetically at him then sighed. “That won't matter to them Takeru. All they will see is a fight between evil Digimon and the Chosen Children and jump to the conclusion that their children where only put in harms way  _ because _ you and your friends attend this school,” his teacher explained and Takeru sat there silent because in a way that was correct. The fight  _ had _ occurred because they where here, mainly him, but it wasn't like they had broadcast that they wanted a fight it just happened. “I don't think you'll have anything to worry about though. The Head of the school was actually thrilled when so many of you decided to attend his school and he was wise enough to buy insurance to cover any damage that might occur with the Chosen Children attending here. He'll do what he can to make sure you and your friends aren't expelled, but I did want to warn you that it might happen and you may find some of the relationships with your classmates strained because of it. Not to mention a lot of parents will probably continue to protest once the the Head declares his decision.”

Takeru looked at Tokamon for a moment before he looked at Mr. Hamada. “That isn't all that you want to say is it? You wouldn't have told my friends to leave if that was it because they should have heard this as well,” Takeru said though it wasn't really a question more of a truthfull statement and Mr. Hamada nodded.

“I wanted to ask if you know how many days you are allowed to be absent before you are automatically held back for the year?” 

Now that was a weird question for him to ask as far as Takeru was concerned. Of course he knew this because it was something important to know thanks to being a Chosen Child who might have to miss a school due to Digimon related things. “According to the school book if a student is absent for one hundred days that are not excused by a doctor they will be held back for the year,” Takeru answered wondering why he was being asked this. All of his absents had already been excused by doctors at the hospital and even if they hadn't he wasn't anywhere  _ near _ one hundred days yet so he had nothing to worry about.

His teacher nodded before he slowly stood and said, “Good keep that in mind Takeru as you continue to deal with what is going on especially if it continues to escalate like it has so far. Remember tests and such things can always be made up if need be while other things cannot be undone.”

Takeru starred at his teacher wondering if he was understanding him correctly. Was he really hinting at him to skip school if things got to dangerous? It was true that technically he could skip school until summer started and still not hit the one hundred days, but Takeru doubted he was telling him to skip school for the rest of the semester. Even if he was Takeru knew his mother wouldn't let him unless it really did mean life or death for him or someone else, but the occasional day if things got to bad couldn't hurt. He just wished his teacher had told him this sooner then he probably wouldn't have shown up today and had just let Tokamon rest the entire day.

He stood up then told his teacher, “I'll keep it in mind.”

“Good that's all I ask. Now I was supposed to be in here telling you how dangerous it is to have your Digimon fight on school grounds, but I don't really see the point in that since it was in self defense. Just next time could you try to lure them away from the school?” he asked the question directed at Tokamon not Takeru.

“I'll try,” Tokamon told him and Mr. Hamada nodded.

“Good. Well you are free to go now though I know Mr. Sato was going to speak with your friends practicality the ones that don't attend this school though I have no idea just what he'll say to them. Hopefully he is smart enough not to ban them from the school grounds that would just complicate matters,” Mr. Hamada said as he began to walk towards the back door Takeru following him after he had slung his bag of his shoulder and had picked Tokamon up. When the door opened he could hear someone arguing in the classroom next door. He also noticed that Daisuke, Ken, Miyako, Hikari, and Kohana where standing near the door with their Digimon trying not to appear that they had been listening though it was obvious they had been.

“Does Mr. Sato have the others in there?” Takeru asked as he walked over to join them while Mr. Hamada went for the classrooms other door to go inside. Notably it was not the one his friends where closest to. The arguing was amplified for a moment before he closed the door behind him to where every could hear clearly for a moment. From what Takeru could tell it was Taichi speaking right now.

“All, but Iori who he sent back to his school promising to call them later and inform them of what has happened here. Doubt it'll do him any good if he's going to try and cause him trouble since they had to deal with this last year They know better then anyone there is really nothing that we can do about it,” Daisuke told him as he leaned against the door again to listen.

“Any idea what they're talking about?” Takeru asked them as he stayed where he was. He had seen enough shows to know what could happen if the door was suddenly opened and he didn't feel like doing something that would seriously get him into trouble.

“Right now? No, but at first he was chewing Trace and Luna out for their appearance even though they are technically legal adults. Lee stopped him when he suddenly started crying and I have a feeling he was faking it,” Hikari told him as she looked at him. “What about you? What did Mr. Hamada want to talk to you about?”

“He wanted to warn me that with what is going on there is probably going to be several calls to the school demanding we be expelled because we are putting their kids at risk. He also wanted to make sure I knew just how many unexcused absents I could have before I was held back for the year.”

His friends looked at each other when he mentioned the calls. “They won't do it will they?” Ken asked him.

“He told me the Headmaster will do his best to keep it from happening. Apparently he already knew something like this could happen when we all came to this school.”

“Our middle school probably warned him when they saw what school we where aiming for,” Miyako told them. “Still why did he want you to know about the unexcused absents?”

“I think he might have been trying to tell me if it is safer for me to stay home some days then to do it,” Takeru told her.

“But he's a teacher!” Daisuke shouted only to be shushed by everyone in the group hoping he wouldn't draw Mr. Sato's attention to them. “Why would he tell you something like that?” he added making sure to keep his voice down.

“Don't know. I could have misunderstood him as well.”

“He also wants us to try and draw the fights away from the school from now on,” Tokamon added as he looked at the Digimon mainly.

“We can try but we can't guarantee any thing,” Plotmon told him having devolved to her Child Stage after the fighting was done. She wasn't the only one who had gone down a level either. Tsumon had gone down to his Baby 2 stage Komon, a small white Digimon that stood on two legs. He still had the soft feathery wings on his back and you could see his large lavender eyes, but the rest of him was covered by the hooded white robe he wore with extra long sleeves to where you only saw his little hands if he was reaching for something higher then himself. From what he knew of Komon never took the hood off. Takeru had a feeling Agumon had gone down to Koromon which meant they no longer had any Digimon that could evolve to Ultimate.

“I know if there are anymore attacks like today we won't be able to but I told him we'll do our best,” Tokamon said as he continued to speak to the other Digimon and they all nodded in agreement.

“Are you actually hearing anything, Daisuke?” Hikari asked turning her attention to him.

“Taichi is telling Mr. Sato off. Apparently he seems to think things wouldn't have gotten so bad if Taichi and the others hadn't shown up. Mr. Hamada is siding with us and is even going as far to say there would have been actual student injuries if it wasn't for their help.”

“I knew he was dense but does he really think Taichi and the others escalated the fighting?” Miyako questioned then shook her head slightly.

They stood there for a bit longer then Daisuke backed off the door right before it was slid open by Taichi. He didn't look very happy and Takeru had been right about Koromon since Taichi was carrying him. He looked at all the younger teenagers standing there before his eyes settled onto Takeru. “Hey Takeru tell me something. How long would it take your mother to write an article about how this school doesn't seem to care about the safety of one if not all of their students?” Takeru starred at him in confusion as Mr. Sato rushed over to Taichi.

“Now wait just a minute his mother can't publish something like that!” Mr. Sato shouted as Taichi turned to face him.

“Why not? It wouldn't be lying since you seem to care more about the school itself then it's students after all. I mean that is why your are banning us from the school grounds isn't it? To keep us from causing more damage even if it means leaving the students to defend themselves from attacks which we all know how well that will work out since most of them can't even evolve to their Adult stage yet. Sure you have three Digimon here that normally could evolve to Ultimate and fight for themselves, but that won't stop a large group from over powering them which has obviously happened or they wouldn't be like this,” Taichi said as he pointed to Tokamon, Plotmon, Chibimon, and Minomon while the others figured out what Taichi was aiming at.

Trace walked up to them then hands crossed over his chest. “Don't worry he doesn't control the area's around the school or the sky above it so we can just stand outside of the school while the fighting is going on, but I'll make sure everyone knows just why we're out there,” Trace said as he glared at Mr. Sato just as angry as Taichi was at this point and he wasn't the only one either. Everyone, human and Digimon alike, that had been taken into the classroom was glaring at Mr. Sato.

“I think my mom would be very interested in it. In fact, I bet my dad would be as well,” Takeru said as he began to reach for his cell phone.

“Wait a minute!” Mr. Sato suddenly said before Takeru could even reach it. “You are allowed on school grounds in the event of a Digimon attack but that is it!” he shouted looking at Taichi and Trace. “However, you are to leave once it is over are we clear?” he asked the two.

“Perfectly,” Taichi said then walked out of the classroom as the younger Chosen Children moved out of his way so he and the others could leave. Takeru looked at his friends then quickly followed after them and he wasn't the only one.

“Did he really try to ban you guys from the school ground?” Daisuke asked when they had caught up with them outside of the school gates after the younger Chosen Children had switched their shoes. Takeru noticed that the three Star siblings where off talking to themselves and he couldn't help but wonder why hadn't the other two sisters shown up during the battle.

Taichi, who had been talking to Sora until Daisuke interrupted, turned to look at the younger Chosen Children. “Yeah he was. He seemed to think that a lot less damage would have happened if we hadn't shown up,” Taichi told him then glanced at Sora. “He seemed pretty intent on getting Iori in trouble as well.”

“The middle school won't do anything. They've had Chosen Children in that school since Jou was in seventh grade. The problem is with this one Miyako is the first Chosen Children to attend it. It probably would have been worse if all of you had spread out like we had done though,” Sora told them. Since none of them in the group wanted jobs that required the best college's in Tokyo they had chosen a high school that was more relaxed while the older ones had chosen schools that fit their career choices better. They also all knew there was a chance that Iori might not follow them when he entered high school, but by then Miyako would have graduated and the rest would all be seniors.

“We might have made matters worse by our appearance...” Trace said as he walked over to them his siblings following him. He then glanced at his sister and said, “We were lucky he couldn't see my piercings, but he was in the middle of accusing us of wearing contacts when Lee started crying which kind of backfired because then he started accusing us of keeping a minor out of school.”

“We've also decided that we'll probably get rid of the highlights. They are causing more trouble then their worth and its not like we can't just put them back if we decide to,” she told them as she looked at the younger group.

“Still to try and ban you guys from the school grounds seems kind of harsh,” Hikari told them and Trace shrugged.

“In all honesty I was surprised your middle school didn't try the same thing when they first saw me and they saw my piercings so I'm not surprised they tried to get rid of Lu and me, but your brother and the rest? Hell that idiot was even saying he'd ban Lee!”

“Well we managed to convince him not to this time at least but I wouldn't put it past him to try again,” Taichi said shaking his head slightly. “You might want to tell your mom and dad just in case we do have to go through with that bluff of mine,” he added looking at Takeru who nodded.

“Right, well, now that this is all said and done I'm going to go see what kept my older and kid sister from all the fun. I would have loved to see Krista tear into him,” Trace said as he turned to leave.

“Where the two of them supposed to show up?” Takeru asked him causing Trace to look at him.

“They where. Kris sent us ahead on Kusarimon though in all honesty she should have came with us instead of Lee since her Digimon is a Perfect level Digimon though I've never seen him actually fight before. Any way she was going to follow us in the rental car with Lexi, but as you know she never showed. None of us have any missed calls or anything from her which isn't like her at all,” Trace told them as he pulled his cellphone out to check it again.

“Could something have happened to them?” Taichi asked him wondering if things where just getting worse for them.

“I don't know. Neither one of them have really been using their abilities if they can help it because since Krista helped Takeru out both of them have been getting really bizarre results,” Luna said as she glanced in the direction their hotel was.

“Like what?” Ken asked wondering just what they would consider bizarre for those two.

Trace and Luna looked at each other for a moment then Luna suddenly turned to her younger brother and said, “Lee let's go get our Digimon something to eat while Trace talks to them.” She then began to lead her brother away who had a very confused look on his face. He wanted to hear just what his two sisters had seen.

Trace waited for him to get far enough that neither Lee or Bearmon could hear him before he answered, “I'll use what happened today as an example. Lexi looked ahead earlier this morning because we where planning on doing something this afternoon and didn't want to leave if there was a chance of something happening. From what Lexi told us nothing was supposed to happen today. You guys went to school then home that was it. We where about ready to leave when we got the text message from Takeru telling us differently and Lexi  _ still  _ couldn't see an attack. As far as her ability was concerned it was still supposed to be a normal day.”

“Couldn’t she have just hit the limit of her ability?” Taichi asked remembering when Krista had said she could only see certain things.

Trace shook his head. “No the limit of her ability is that she can't see the surrounding area of the people she's watching. Kind of the reason she has that stupid idea that she can't do anything to help anyone despite seeing it so she should have saw something would have happened today,” Trace told them.

“Then what about Krista?” Takeru asked him.

“Her's is the really confusing part. As she said she can see seven days down someone's destiny line. The truth is she reads it in a book and her ability is to not only make seven days in advance appear but to read the words in the book because no one else can read it. Not that long ago she was reading your book, Takeru, to make sure everything was going as it should. Except when she read it her ability seemed to reverse itself. Instead of seeing seven days in advance now she see's seven days into the past which really doesn't do us any good,” Trace told him and sighed. “Krista thought the two of them had just been using their ability to much which can cause such things to happen, but now I'm not so sure.”

“What do you think is happening now?” Hikari asked him.

“I think someone might have somehow changed their ability or just stole it and what they're seeing is side affects of it happening...”

* * *

Minervamon slowly walked through Kitsumon's new base in the Digital World, this time it was some abandoned English Mansion, supporting Aiden as they walked towards the room he used while he was here. His two Digimon walked behind them neither one of them happy that Minervamon was the one helping him, but they where to short to support him at this stage. Thanks to Kitsumon pushing him so hard the red headed teen was running a high fever and if it wasn't for Minervamon he wouldn't even be standing right now.

“Don't worry Aiden I'll make sure you get better!” Minervamon promised as she stopped so Black Agumon could open the door to the room. Once he had and had moved out of the way she helped Aiden into the room and over to the bed where he sat down.

“If that damn fox comes in here again kill him,” Aiden groaned as he flopped back onto the bed. Black Agumon and Black Gabumon looked at each other while Minervamon giggled thinking Aiden was joking. His two Digimon weren't quiet so sure on that one. Aiden groaned again when he realized he still had his shoes on so he sat back up to remove them throwing them across the room once he got them off. Then he laid back down on the bed moving around until he could crawl under the covers.

“Do you want something to eat?” Mineveramon asked as she sat in the only real chair in the room. The two other Digimon went for the bean bags that where in the room just for them and sat down.

“No Minervamon I'm afraid that if I ate anything it'll come back up. Besides I know you can't cook,” he told her as he pulled one of the pillows on the bed over to him to use as a body pillow.

“Who said I'd make it? I'd just go get take out at one of the Digimon restaurants on the content. I don't wanna poison ya,” she told him.

“Still don't want it,” he mumbled.

“Okay then!” she said standing up. “I'll go see what I can get for you in medicine instead!”

“I'd appreciate it...” Aiden said as he closed his eyes intending to be asleep before she came back. Minervamon didn't say anything else after that instead she left the room carefully closing the door behind her. 

“Did you really mean what you said about killing Kitsumon?” Black Agumon asked him.

Aiden opened his eyes for a moment to look at his Digimon then closed them again. “Mostly I was... I'm afraid if he forces us to fight again like he did today I'll either lose the two of you or end up in the hospital,” he told them then sighed. “Just make sure I'm not woken up until later this evening at least...”

“Alright,” Black Gabumon told him as he moved his bean bag closer to the door then sat back down again. Minervamon would be easy to get rid of the problem would be Kitsumon if he came. Still he'd fight him if he had to and alone if Black Agumon didn't want to help him, but he had a feeling that he would. 


	22. Choose, Now!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copyrighted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it’s Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copyright for it.
> 
> Sorry about the lateness life kinda happened. Will be posting chapters to make up for it.

_“Where are we going?” Tokamon asked trying to change the subject for now. Hikari stood up taking the hint._

_“First we are going to go see a movie just the six of us. In all honesty I would just let the four of you see it but...” Hikari began as Kohana began to make protesting gestures and Hikari grinned, “I got this sorta reaction out of her when I suggested it after you called. Knowing Kohana it's because she's afraid they may be attacked and wants me along just in case even if Plotmon can't right right now. Any way then we'll meet up with Daisuke and the other and go to a Karaoke some place. After that if there is still time we'll figure something out,” Hikari told him and Tokamon nodded. Takeru soon came out to meet them. The girls and their Digimon went out the front door so Takeru could put his shoes on before he picked Tokamon up and went out to join them. He then locked the door behind him and sent a text message to his mother letting her know what was going on even though he wasn't quiet sure just what Hikari had planned._

 

The few times Takeru had tried to walk behind Kohana and Hikari as they lead him to wherever it was they where taking him both of them would fall back to either side of him and start up some type of conversation with him. It was obvious they just weren't going to leave him alone no matter what he wanted. “Where are we going any way?” Takeru asked after the third time the two of them had slowed down to match his pace.

“To a Digimon friendly movie theater,” Hikari answered as she looked at him. “There is a movie Kohana and I want to see so we decided to bring you along since you had nothing to do.”

“What movie exactly?”

“It's an action comedy,” Kohana answered. "It's one that we where waiting to come out.” Takeru blinked and looked at the two of them having expected them to answer some different type of movie. Then again he wasn't quiet sure just what type of movie these two usually watched together so why should he be so surprised?

“Any particular reason why the two of you decided to drag me and Tokamon along?”

“Because we could!' Hikari told him as she looked at him and smiled. She moved to where she was standing ahead of the two walking backwards to talk to them. “Are you really going to complain about going to a movie with two cute girls?”

“Is that how you describe yourself?” Takeru asked Hikari smiling slightly. Hikari pouted at him while Kohana giggled since the question hadn't been directed at her.

Then it was Hikari's turn to smile. “I noticed you didn't reject to me calling Kohana cute,” she said nearly causing Takeru to misstep. He glanced at Kohana who looked away though she was smiling. Hikari placed her Digimon on her head and took hold of Takeru's and Kohana's arm and began to pull making the two walk faster. “Any way come on or we are going to miss the movie!” She told them.

 

In all honesty, Takeru really didn't feel like watching a movie. The others seemed to have been enjoying it from what he was able to tell. At least with all the loud noises of the movie and the once in awhile full theater laughing he didn't have to worry about falling asleep here. He did have to worry about his headache though as near the end of the movie it came back with a vengeance. He was very happy to leave the theater once the movie had finished.

By then he had also manage to figure out just what was going on. He had caught both of the girls and their Digimon glancing his way every once in awhile during the movie to see how he was doing. It made it a bit obvious that they where worried about him and while it made him happy that they where trying to cheer him up it also made him wish they had picked a different way to go about it. Going to a movie theater was one of the last places he wanted to go with the current mood he was in and had only gone because he knew Hikari would have dragged him along any ways if he had said no.

“Takeru are you okay?” Tokamon asked them as he weaved through the crowd to walk towards the entrance of the theater. He had managed to get separated from Hikari and Kohana in the large crowd.

“Just my headache coming back nothing more,” Takeru reassured him as he leaned against the wall to wait. It shouldn't take long for the girls and their Digimon to join them. While he waited for them to make their way out he pulled his cellphone out to check it for messages. The first thing he noticed was that he had missed several calls from both Trace and Luna. They had also sent a few text messages to him. At first they where concerned by the fact that they couldn't reach him then it turned to an apology for flooding his phone as they had gotten hold of Daisuke and had found out what was going on. The last message Takeru got was from Trace that told him not to worry about it and to enjoy his time out.

“Telling me not to worry is only going to make me wonder just what the heck is going on...” Takeru mumbled as he closed his phone. He was also beginning to wonder what was taking Hikari and Kohana so long to leave the theater. The three of them had left it at the same time yet he had gotten out first due to the crowd. He turned to head back in as the two girls and their Digimon came out.

“Did you happen to get a ton of messages from the twins?” Takeru asked them while he walked over to them. The two of them pulled their cellphones out to check them.

“I got two. One asking me if I knew where you were then one letting me know they had found out that you where with us,” Hikari answered as she read through the messages.

“I got the same ones,” Kohana answered him as she did the same.

“I wonder if something is wrong,” Tokamon said as he looked up at the three then at the other two Digimon.

Takeru sighed. “Even if there was I'm not sure if we could do anything to help them right now. Also they obviously don't want to tell us whatever is going on.” Hikari's text tone went off at that moment as she had turned it back on since they where now out of the theater. She read it then closed her cellphone turning her attention to the others.

“Change of plans!” Hikari said to Kohana then turned her attention to Takeru. “Let's go get something to eat my treat,” she told him.

“Hikari what's going on?” Takeru asked her as she began to walk forcing the other two to follow her or be left behind. They of course followed her. The Digimon had done so before Takeru and Kohana just at the mention of food. At their current levels they where almost always hungry.

“Dunno it was a text from Daisuke and all it said was that he and the others can't make it to Karaoke. That they are busy and that they have everything under control,” Hikari answered him as they continued to walk, “And yes I know they are hiding something from us but Daisuke wouldn't say they had it under control if they really needed our help.” Takeru knew she had a point since it wouldn't do them any good to lie to them since it would only cause problems. Still Takeru noticed Hikari wasn't to happy about being kept in the dark and he could tell that she was slightly worried as well. At least with that he knew he wasn't the only one...

Hikari didn't stop until they had reached a family dinner. She then lead the small group inside and they chose a booth to sit at. Hikari had then sat her cellphone down on the table to pick up her menu and began to look over it. Takeru picked up his as well holding it to where Tokamon could look at it as well while he tried to figure out just what was going on with his friends.

 

After Minervamon had come back with some medicine and had left again Aiden had gotten out of bed pulling his shoes back on. It took a bit of an effort for him to stand up which both of his Digimon quickly noted. “Aiden you shouldn't get up,” Black Gabumon told him as he held the medicine out to Aiden. The Digimon didn't know why, but Aiden had refused to take it after Minervamon had left. The two Digimon tried to help Aiden back in bed put he pushed them off.

“No! I am going to find out what the hell that fox is up to,” Aiden snapped as he walked over to the door and opened it up. “I want to know how he got his hands on that damned virus as well.” The two Digimon looked at one another then followed after Aiden as he took off down the hall.

Every room the three of them came across Aiden stopped to look in them. Most of them where bedrooms or had been turned into some Digimon's nest. None of them where very useful and probably didn't have what Aiden was looking for so he didn't bother to look around them to much. Soon Aiden and the two Digimon had looked through all the rooms on the top floor and whatever it was Aiden was looking for wasn't there. By then Aiden really felt like he was burning up as the fever began to rise and he was having to use the walls as support to walk. He had known that his Digimon's evolutions could harm him if they done them to many times in one day, but he had never known it would reek this much havoc on his body.

“Aiden please let's go to the human world! You need to see a doctor or to at least get medicine,” Black Agumon begged as he grabbed hold of Aiden's arm.

“if we leave now,” Aiden began as he walked towards the stairs, “I doubt Kitsumon will let us back in after what has happened.” Aiden had a real bad feeling they where coming to the end of their usefulness for the fox bastard since it was obvious that his two Digimon couldn't defeat the Chosen Children's Digimon even when pushed by Kitsumon. His Digimon really didn't have it in them and with so many Ultimates on their side his just didn't stand a chance. If they couldn't help erase Patamon and kill Takeru then Kitsumon wouldn't need them. Which meant the only purpose the three of the would severe would be as bait for the Chosen or fodder. In all honesty Aiden should have just fled while Kitsumon seemed to have forgotten their existence momentarily, but Aiden wanted his answers and he was going to find them.

“Wouldn't that be a good thing?” Black Gabumon asked having come to the same conclusion that Aiden just had about their fate if they stayed. By the expression on Black Agumon's face Aiden knew he had as well. “We should go while we have the chance!”

“No, we need to find out what the hell Kitsumon is hiding,” Aiden told them as he walked over to the nearest room and threw open the door. This one had wooden crates and Aiden's mood turned dark as he recognized a company log from his world stamped on one of them. The company had been closed down since he was a young kid, but he still knew it well. He walked over to one of them and tried to force it open. He wasn't able to so he turned to his two Digimon. “Can one of you try opening it?”

Black Agumon stepped up first as Aiden took a few steps back. He was able to work his nails under one of the boards and pull it loose. Then with Black Gabumon's help the two of them were able to pry it off. With one off it was easy for the two of them to get the rest of the boards off. Once they had the last one off Aiden walked back up to the box and looked inside. After tossing aside what felt like a million packing peanuts he found some device inside that he had no clue what the hell it was. He moved onto the next one and the two Digimon opened this one up for him as well. This one contained papers printed in his grandmothers language which he found odd. He was a bit rusty in his reading of it but he was able to figure out it was reports on some type of project.

Aiden began to read through them carefully as Black Gabumon and Black Agumon went to open up the other boxes for him. “Aiden...” Black Gabumon called him the Digimon's tone flat. Aiden dropped the papers back into the box and walked over to where Black Gabumon and Black Agumon were. The two of them where starring into the box they had just finished opening. Inside where a whole bunch of generation one Digivices that had been turned to stone. Aiden starred at them for a moment before walking away.

“Leave them alone for now. Unless I find something that says it's bad to keep them in these papers we'll just leave them alone...” he told them as he went back to reading the papers. Black Agumon and Black Gabumon looked at each other then continued to look at the different boxes and opening up new ones.

When a paper that Aiden read proved to not be of any use to him he would crumple it up and toss it into a corner of the room. There was of course less destructive ways to show himself that he had already read the paper, but Aiden was mad. At this point he was wanting to do anything that would annoy Kitsumon even if it was as small and childish as crumbling up papers. “Aiden there is a laptop in this one!” Black Agumon shouted as he leaned into a box and pulled out the laptop holding it above his head. Aiden walked over to it and Black Agumon held it out to him opening it up. The red head tried to turn the laptop on, but there wasn't any power left in the battery to do so.

“Battery is dead,” Aiden told Black Agumon as he turned his attention to the box and began to dig through it hoping to find the power cord and other things that might prove useful. He did manage to find the power cord which he tossed at Black Gabumon over his shoulder without looking and the Digimon manage to catch it. He then found what looked like to be someones personal journal. He pulled it out then turned and leaned back against the box as he leafed through it. Whoever it belonged to seemed to be the owner of the laptop as well at least this seemed to hint to him that it did.

The two Digimon watched as Aiden read through it noticing the further their friend got through it the darker his expression became. “Aiden?” Black Gabumon asked wondering what was going on. Aiden set the book on top of the now closed laptop still in Black Agumon's arms and dug deeper into the box,

“Black Gabumon give the cord to Black Agumon and go destroy those Digivices!” Aiden almost snapped and Black Gabumon quickly placed the cord on top of Black Agumons current load and ran to do as he was told. Aiden never spoke like that to the two Digimon unless it was urgent.

Since they where now just stone Black Gabumon simply evolved up to Black Were Garurumon using his own energy to do so instead of relying on Aiden. A few punches from the were wolf Digimon and the Digivices where reduced to dust. Black Were Garurumon then moved to the side of the room not wanting to devolve if he didn't have to. The Digimon was not to sure if he would be able to evolve again if he did and he wasn't going to take that chance.

Aiden tossed a few more journals out of the box and Black Agumon watched as they hit the floor because the Digimon couldn't catch them. “Black Agumon go ahead and set those things down. Could you also go back to my room and fetch my bag? We're taking these with us.”

“Alright,” Black Agumon said as he sat it down and quickly ran for the door. He checked to make sure no one was walking around before he ran off to fetch the bag.

“Aiden what is going on?” Black Were Garurumon asked as he kept an eye on the door. Just because Black Agumon had been careful did not mean someone hadn't seen him. It was obvious to the Digimon that Aiden had also found what he was looking for.

“These,” Aiden began as he tossed out another journal to join the other four, “Are the personal journals of the scientist who created the virus that wiped out all those Digimon and their human partners.” Black Were Garurumon took a few steps away from the journals wanting nothing to do with them. “They talk about the development process, the testing period and even how the virus mutated on them.

Black Were Garurumon blinked after he realized what Aiden had said. “It mutated?” he asked as he looked at Aiden wanting to make sure he had indeed heard him correctly.

“Yes when the testing was going on it didn't seem to cause what he saw. It actually prevented a Digimon from being able to evolve as a means to control them. The scientist was afraid that a virus for Digimon could possibly change because of their nature but his objections where shoved under the rug and they released it any ways. Kitsumon probably used his notes to make it again,” Aiden explained as he stood up for a moment feeling extremely light headed and he was afraid he might throw up at any moment.

“Then shouldn't we destroy them?” Black Were Garurumon asked wishing Aiden would let him. That virus had and has caused them to much trouble.

“I would, but I don't know what is important and what isn't. I am going to translate them into English then let the Chosen Children decide what should be done with them. The laptop I'm keeping though...” Aiden said as he leaned back into the box to see if there was anything else useful. From what he could tell he had gotten all the journals, but there where some files on the testing so he added those to his growing pile. When he heard the door open he turned to look at Black Agumon

Except that his Digimon wasn't by himself Minervamon was following him and Aiden groaned as Black Agumon walked up to him backpack in hand. “Sorry Aiden she threatened to get Kitsumon if I didn't show her where you were,” he said as he handed over the backpack.

Aiden took it from him and began to stuff the things in it. “That's fine she won't cause us problems,” Aiden told Black Agumon who looked a little skeptic.

“Aiden! Kitsumon won't like you being in here,” Minervamon warned him at the same time she had ran over to one of the boxes and was digging through it. Aiden wasn't surprised that she did that most likely the fact Kitsumon had forbidden her entry into this room had only made her that more curious about it.

“Yeah, well Kitsumon can shove it for all I care,” Aiden growled as he shouldered the backpack. There was nothing else in the box that was of use that he could tell so he was going to take what he had and leave.

“He wouldn't be happy if he heard you say that!” Minervamon giggled as she tossed a handful of packing peanuts into the air. Aiden just rolled his eyes and walked to the door fully intending to be gone within the hour. He had what he wanted and he wasn't going to stay around here anymore with his life now at risk.

“Black Were Garurumon, Black Agumon destroy the rest of them!” Aiden told them and the Digimon moved to obey.

“O, o, o! Let me help!” Minervamon chirped to Aiden's shock as the petite Digimon pulled out her sword and began to help the other two destroy the boxes. Aiden waited for them to finish by the door and when he had he opened it up.

“Oh shi-” Aiden began and to the shock of the three Digimon the teen was sent flying only to be caught by Minervamon as Black Were Garurumon evolved further to Black Metal Garurumon and Black Agumon evolved to Black War Greymon

“Going somewhere?” Kitsumon questioned as he stepped into the room. Aiden wiped the blood off his lip from where he had bit it on accident thanks to the sudden attack as he glared at the fox Digimon.

“Yeah I'm leaving,” Aiden said as he pulled his Digivices out of his pants pockets and put the bracelets on. “now get out of my way!” he growled as his two Digimon rushed forward to clear the path for their friend. Kitsumon jumped backwards out of the room and the two Ultimate Level Digimon chased after him. Aiden looked up at Minervamon the female Digimon had a confused look on her face. Aiden couldn't really blame her up until this moment they had been Kitsumon's allies. “Choose. Now!' Aiden snapped. Minervamon looked at him then hugged Aiden tightly before pushing him away.

Aiden ran out of the room and was happily surprised to see that Minervamon had chosen his side. The way that she had hugged him Aiden had been afraid she had decided to help Kitsumon. Maybe with this they would get out of this place alive after all.

 

After the three had eaten Takeru had decided to just go home not really wanting to be out in the city anymore. The two girls hadn't argued with him about it but they decided to go ahead and go with him to make sure he got home safely. Much to all their happiness Tokamon had managed to evolve to Patamon before they had even reached the apartments Takeru lived in. Now, they at least had one Digimon who could reach Ultimate level to fight and the two of them where no longer helpless as well. By then, they still had no word of what was going on with Daisuke and the others. Takeru had even tried to call Trace on the way home to ask him himself. Not only had the older teen not answer the phone, but he had ignored the few text messages Takeru had sent him which caused a bit annoyance for Takeru.

Hikari and Kohana had decided to stay with Takeru for awhile longer and the three of them had worked on their little bit of homework together while the Digimon played until the girls had to go home. Takeru had taken the very tiny bit of homework he had left into his room to work on it in there as Patamon played on his DS Lite. By then Takeru realized that, strangely, he no longer felt tired and, in fact, he even felt wide awake. It was strange but he accepted it because it was a lot better then having to fight against his bodies urge to sleep.

Takeru had no idea just how long he had been sitting there when he heard his D-Terminal beep. By that time he had already finished his homework, Patamon was sound asleep and Takeru was now relaxing playing his DS Lite since he really didn't fee like writing anything at the moment. He blinked when he checked the time on his DS Lite to see it was actually very early Friday morning. To early for it to be any of his friends messaging him so it was most likely spam or something. Either way Takeru reached out and picked the D-Terminal up and opened it to check the message. He didn't recognize the senders e-mail address but he still opened it up since he rarely gave his e-mail address out to anyone so it was actually rare that he got spam on here.

His eyes widened slightly when he realized it was a message from Aiden and it was actually asking for help. In fact the message was almost pleading for it which Takeru found really strange. Takeru turned the main light on in his room as he rushed to his cellphone to call his friends for help. “Patamon I need you to wake up,” Takeru called to his friend as he tossed the D-Terminal on the bed. Patamon awoke slowly and sort of crawled over to the D-Terminal. He woke up rather quickly after he read the message though. “come on Daisuke answer the phone,” Takeru muttered as he went to his laptop top open it up and enter the coordinates into the Digital Gate program that had come in the e-mail. It was in an area Takeru had never personally been to and while he was afraid it was a trap he was more afraid he wouldn't make it in time.

Takeru sighed when Daisuke didn't pick up the phone and tried Taichi's phone instead. He picked up after a few rings and Takeru explained what was going on. “Don't you dare go through until someone else has!” Taichi told Takeru and the younger teen could hear typing in the background as Taichi entered the coordinates.

If it wasn't for the urgency in Taichi's voice Takeru probably would have rolled his eyes. Obviously he wouldn't go through first! “I won't! I'm gonna try Daisuke again then Ken. Can you call some of the others?”

“I'll get a hold of my sister she's still at Kohana's so both of them will be there,” Taichi told him before hanging up. Takeru tried Daisuke again and this time the goggle head actually picked up.

“Daisuke I swear you need to sleep with your cellphone next to your ear!” Takeru snapped. It wasn't really fair of him to do so but he did it any way.

“Why? What's going on?” Daisuke asked him and Takeru explained. Daisuke told him then he'd head through right away and to have Ken do the same. Luckily Ken was a lot easier to get a hold of and promised he would head through the portal as soon as he could. Takeru waited a few minutes after that in which Patamon hopped onto his shoulder and Takeru put his boots on before he went through the gate hoping that things weren't nearly as bad as the e-mail made him believe they where. He wasn't sure if him and his friends could handle a large battle right now.

 

Almost instantly when Takeru appeared in the Digital world he had to run as an attack seemed to come out of nowhere at him and Patamon. Patamon didn't even have enough time to evolve to defend against it. He heard Daisuke shout something as the attack flew past the two of them then saw as FlaDramon tackled a Digimon that had been running towards Takeru. He was glad to see him because it meant V-mon was back in action as should Wormmon be then. From what Takeru could tell there where several Digimon all around them fighting and most of them where ones he did not know.

“Where the hell is he?” Takeru heard Taichi shout and Takeru turned to look at him. The older teen was crouched down to avoid being a target, like Takeru had been, and holding Koromon protectively. The small Digimon wanted to help fight and was clearly upset that he couldn't.

“He's suppose to be around here somewhere if this isn't a trap!” Takeru shouted back hoping this really wasn't a trap. If it turned out to be one he was going to punch Aiden the next time he saw him. His friends where risking their lives doing this for him after all.

He was about ready to try looking around when he heard a shouted cry that caused him to look up at the fighting going on overhead. He watched, in horror, as Black War Greymon fell from the sky having been hit by an attack. The Digimon did not catch himself in order to stop the fall and he came crashing to the ground hard enough to create a slight crater. When the dust cleared from his fall Takeru slowly walked over to Black War Greymon. His armor was rent in several places and Takeru couldn't understand how he was still even in his Ultimate Level let alone how he had still been fighting. All Takeru could think of as he starred at the badly wounded and damaged Digimon is just what had happened for him to end up like this? The second one was where was Aiden?


	23. The Dark Outcome

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copyrighted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it’s Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copyright for it.
> 
> This Chapter had a case of the disappearing, reappearing backpack. Aiden had it, then he didn't, then Taichi had it then he didn't. Takeru ended up with it in the end XD. I am also running out of chapter names for this FF.

_He was about ready to try looking around when he heard a shouted cry that caused him to look up at the fighting going on overhead. He watched, in horror, as Black War Greymon fell from the sky having been hit by an attack. The Digimon did not catch himself in order to stop the fall and he came crashing to the ground hard enough to create a slight crater. When the dust cleared from his fall Takeru slowly walked over to Black War Greymon. His armor was rent in several places and Takeru couldn't understand how he was still even in his Ultimate Level let alone how he had still been fighting. All Takeru could think of as he starred at the badly wounded and damaged Digimon is just what had happened for him to end up like this? The second one was where was Aiden?_

“You came...” Black War Greymon said as the Digimon began to struggle to sit up. Takeru was surprised that he could even move with all the damage he had suffered. He also noted the Digimon was surprised that they had come.

“Where's Aiden?” Takeru asked as he watched wishing there was something he could do to help Black War Greymon. They had very little fighting power right now and it seemed, here, Kitsumon had an army. Black War Greymon managed to stand for a moment before his legs gave out on him, but he did manage to catch himself on his hands before he fell fully. Patamon went to jump of Takeru's shoulder in order to help him, but Black War Greymon shook his head. Then as an answer to Takeru he pointed to the English style mansion that was nearby.

“Save him please... We'll distract Kitsumon for as long as we can,” Black War Greymon told him as he stood up again then took off. There was a flash of light and now Omegamon Zwart was ready to fight. Takeru turned his attention to the mansion and shuddered slightly as it brought back memories he'd rather not think about right now. Still Aiden needed him and he took off tapping Taichi on the shoulder as he passed the older Chosen causing Taichi to follow after him.

“Is he in there?” Taichi asked as the two of them ran towards the mansion.

“Black War Greymon told me he is. We have to get to Aiden quickly otherwise his Digimon might end up fighting themselves into the ground to buy us time,” Takeru told Taichi who nodded. They had to skid to a halt as a Digimon suddenly appeared in front of them only to be tackled to the ground by Kusarimon who was quickly joined by Nekitsomon and Gryzmon. Takeru blinked having not expected to see those three Digimon here sine he didn't think anyone would have call them. Takeru and Taichi continued to run towards the mansion Trace catching up with them.

“What exactly is going on?” The older teen asked. All he knew was that he had gotten a message from Hikari with the gate coordinates for this place and nothing much else. Trace figured it to have been a rushed message and had quickly woken up his siblings to drag them along with him. They had not been happy about being woke up but that soon changed when they came through the portal.

Takeru looked at him a small part of him still wondering what had happened yesterday. “Aiden called for help. Black War Greymon told me he's in the mansion,” Takeru told him.

“And you believed him?” Trace asked a little surprised. If it was him he would have told the Digimon to take a flying leap!

“Trace I doubt Black War Greymon would let himself be as damaged as he was just for a trap. He'll be lucky if he doesn't revert to a Digi-Egg after all of this is over,” Takeru told him and Trace nodded. Maybe he wouldn't have told him to take a flying leap after all...

“Alright then quick entrance it is then,” Trace said as he pulled his gloves off and stuffed them into his pockets making sure to only touch the gloves as he did so. He then ran faster then both Taichi and Takeru since Takeru was the one picking the pace with his bruised ribs and reached the door before them. By the time the other two had reached it with their Digimon Trace had dealt with the door and was making sure it really wasn't a trap just to be safe. The three of them then quickly went inside the mansion.

“Aiden!” Takeru called as he looked around not caring if others knew they where there. It would be pretty obvious any way with the way Trace had let them into the place. He wanted to find Aiden and quickly for Aiden's Digimons sake. The area around the entrance was heavily damaged from the fighting that had taken place here and most of the roof was now gone now most likely when the fighting Digimon had escaped through it. The three began to look around heading in the direction the fighting seemed to have started at.

“Oi Aiden where are you?” Trace shouted as he walked destroying anything that managed to get in their way making it easier for them to search. He broke away from the others for a moment to check a nearby room kicking the door open so he didn't have to touch it. The less he had to use his ability the better as far as he was concerned. When he didn't find anything he shook his head and went back to the others.

“I don't like this,” Taichi said as they continued to search before eventually reaching the room where Aiden had been earlier that night though they did not know that and he wasn't there now. The entire place was giving Takeru a bad feeling and it just became worse as they continued to walk around. When he actually spotted a painting of an angel he froze in his tracks.

“Takeru?” Patamon whispered into his ear as he looked at the painting again. “That looks like-”

“I know,” Takeru interrupted him as he continued to stare at the painting. “It's probably on purpose,” Takeru said as he quickened his steps to catch up with the others. The inside looked nothing like that mansion had, but someone had obviously put things in it to remind people of it. Kitsumon probably had plans for this place. Plans Takeru hoped that Aiden had managed to ruin.

“You okay?” Trace asked him as they continued forward. The younger teen looked a little pale to him.

“Just some bad memories is all,” Takeru admitted. The three ended up heading upstairs where they had to search the rooms. Finally they opened one up and found Aiden hiding in a corner of the room. He was currently unconscious and was hugging a Digimon egg to his chest one that Takeru had never seen before. There was also a backpack on his back one Takeru recognized from school though he highly doubted it had his school supplies in it now. He was also extremely pale and when Takeru touched his arm he realized he was burning up. Taichi stood by the door keeping an eye out on things.

“How is he?” Taichi asked as he glanced at Takeru for a moment.

“Bad. He's burning up. Trace I need you to put your gloves back on,” Takeru said and Trace nodded pulling them back on. Takeru then worked to free the egg from Aiden's grip which was strong for how pale he was. When he got the Digi-Egg free it revealed claw marks on Aiden's chest causing Takeru to grimace. “Patamon,” Takeru started but he didn't need to finish. The small Digimon had seen the marks and was already off his shoulder evolving to Holy Angemon before Takeru could hand the Digi-Egg to Trace for safe keeping.

“Holy Disinfection,” Holy Angemon said directing the ability towards Aiden. His face regained some of its color and he wasn't so hot to the touch but he didn't wake up.

“Take the bracelets off him. His Digimon are feeding off his energy to fight and they are probably why he's in such a bad state right now. Kitsumon's attack would have taken longer to do this much to him,” Trace told him as he pointed to one of the bracelets that was on Aiden's arm.

“If I take those off his Digimon could die,” Takeru said as he pulled the backpack Aiden was wearing off so he could turn him onto his back to see if there where any other injuries. His Digimon had done a pretty good job of protecting him as it seemed as the claw marks where the only injury Takeru was able to find.

“if you don't Takeru they could accidentally kill him while trying to help protect him,” Trace pointed out. Takeru starred at the bracelets for a few moments then frowned as he reached out to pull them off Aiden's arms. It was a no win situation as far as Takeru was concerned and he prayed that he just didn't sign the death warrant for Black War Greymon and Black Metal Garurumon as he pulled the bracelets off. Then he grabbed Aiden's Digivices stuffing them into his pockets since they had been laying on the ground. Takeru stepped back to let Holy Angemon at Aiden so the Digimon could pick him up. Once he had Taichi stepped forward to take Aiden's backpack since Takeru couldn't carry it safely. They then quickly went back the way they had came following after the angelic Digimon.

When Takeru stepped out it was in time to see Black War Greymon come crashing down to the ground again and this time he devolved to his Baby Stage One, Botamon. Takeru was about to run for him when Trace grabbed a hold of his arm stopping him as Kitsumon landed near the little Digimon. The Fox Digimon's mask was actually broken and his clothing torn. Takeru could see the Digimon's black lips now and Takeru realized this was the most damaged he had ever seen the Digimon have since he had become Kitsumon. Kitsumon bent down to pick up the little Digimon and when he spotted Takeru the fox Digimon grinned showing off his sharp fangs.

Holy Angemon gently set Aiden down and evolved to Seraphimon ready to face the fox Digimon down if he had to. Kusarimon quickly ran over to Trace and Takeru slowing down as he got near them. The dog Digimon walked up to Takeru and opened his mouth to reveal the Baby Stage One of Black Gabumon, Punimon. Takeru carefully took the small Digimon from the Dog Digimon and once Takeru had him Kusarimon shook himself before looking at Kitsumon. “I am sorry I could not get him as well,” Kusarimon said as he walked up beside Seraphimon to offer his help the best he could. At that moment Takeru felt like he was going to be sick.

“Heh,” Kitsumon said then he began to laugh as he handed the small Digimon over to one of his minion Digimon. The Digimon quickly ran off and Kusarimon took off after it dodging the halfhearted attack from Kitsumon as Kusarimon ran past him. Kitsumon was much more interested in just who it was that stood before him. “it seems you are the only Digimon capable of evolving to Ultimate right now,” Kitsumon stated as he pointed his sword at Seraphimon grinning. It made Takeru wonder just what had happened to FlaDramon. Surely if he was capable of armor evolving now he could also Jogress Evolve to Imperial Dramon. Just what had happened while they where inside of the mansion?

Seraphimon stood his ground not wanting to leave his friends open to an attack by rushing in. Kitsumon just smirked then turned his attention to Takeru. “How did you like my mansion? The Digimon who I had decorate it for me seemed partially found of a certain painting of an angel,” Kitsumon said his voice flat.

Takeru took a few involuntary steps back at what Kitsumon had just said as a wave of panic washed over him. “Takeru do not pay him any attention! You know better then anyone that I defeated him,” Seraphimon said as he glanced back at the teen. The last thing he needed was for Takeru to break right here in front of Kitsumon. If that happened Seraphimon wasn't sure just what he would be able to do.

Kitsumon grinned and said, “He's looking forward to seeing the two of you again. To bad Aiden went and ruined the little reunion I had planned for you guys.”

Takeru felt the panic grow for a moment, but he fought it down. He shook his head and shouted at Kitsumon, “You are lying!” Takeru tried to remind himself that was exactly what Kitsumon did. He lied and manipulated people in an attempt to break them down. There was no way that he had somehow manage to come back. Takeru knew Digimon like him could never come back. The Digital World was designed to where they couldn't! Other wise they would have had to deal with repeat offenders by now! Kitsumon'ss cruel laughter broke through Takeru's thoughts and he glared at the fox Digimon. Now Takeru was just angry.

“Deny it all you want kid, but then tell me.... How else would I know about that painting?” he asked and Takeru shook his head causing Kitsumon to laugh again. By then the others had begun to gather around and Takeru noted that Imperial Dramon really was there and the Dragon Digimon did not hesitate at all to charge at Kitsumon followed closely by Seraphimon since he now knew his friends would be alright. Kitsumon quickly retreated laughing the entire time. Imperial Dramon and Seraphimon chose not to follow after him afraid what would happen if they did being the only two Ultimate level Digimon at the moment. Soon Kusarimon returned to the group limping slightly.

Takeru looked at the dog Digimon hoping he had managed to get the other baby Digimon. Kusarimon looked at him and shook his head before devolving down to Rascmon. “I wasn't able to get him,” Rascmon told Takeru as he limped over to Trace. “It was a trap,” the dog Digimon explained as he sat down with a sigh.

“Are you alright?” Trace asked as Hikari moved over to Aiden to check on him.

“We need to get him back he's pretty bad off,” Takeru told her and Hikari nodded in agreement.

“I will be fine after a few days,” Rascmon answered him and Trace nodded.

The other Digimon who had evolved began to devolve as Takeru turned his attention to the mansion. He felt a hand on his shoulder and nearly jumped turning to see Taichi standing behind him. “Come on we need to get Aiden some place safe,” Taichi said and Takeru nodded. Trace ended up handing the Digimon Egg over to Hikari's care in case he needed to help Rascmon and was soon joined by Lee and Luna with their Digimon. Takeru noted that Lexi and Krista where no where to be seen.

Taichi and Daisuke ended up carrying Aiden to the closest terminal with Ken taking the backpack from Taichi and Trace directed them to his laptop set up in the hotel room since it was the only room big enough for them all. When they appeared in Trace and Lee's room the older teen told them to go ahead and set Aiden down on his bed. He didn't really use it any way.

“Do you have any idea whose egg this is?” Hikari asked as she held up the egg for the others to see.

“No clue. Aiden was holding onto it pretty tightly though,” Takeru told her as he sat the baby Digimon down next to Aiden. Both of them where currently sound asleep.

“Here,” Luna said holding out a first aid kit. Takeru took it from her and treated the small Digimon while Trace worked on removing Aiden's shirt so he could treat the wound that was on his chest.

“What was Kitsumon talking about back there that had you so panicked” Trace asked Takeru as the two worked on treating the injuries.

Takeru didn't answer him but Patamon did. “He was saying that Devimon was back.” This caused a few of the Chosen Children who knew the story of Devimon to exchange looks amongst each other. Since Taichi had been there the entire time he was not at all surprised by the news.

“Who is Devimon?” Luna asked as she sat down on Lee's bed her little brother next to her. The younger teen looked like he could fall asleep at any moment.

“He's the reason I almost lost Patamon,” Takeru answered as he finished treating the Digimon's injuries. “But Kitsumon was lying. Digimon like him are removed from the data pool of the Digital World so its impossible for them to be reborn.”

“They are sent to the Dark Area,” Trace said causing a few people to look at him. He had found out quiet a bit about the under workings of the Digital World trying to figure out Calilimon and Tsumon. “That's basically the Digital Worlds version of Hell. Any and all evil Digimon are sent there after they are defeated and as you said from there its impossible for them to be reborn. From what I understand that place is supposed to be guarded by a Digimon called Anubimon. A pretty powerful Ultimate level Digimon from what I was told.”

“That explains a lot of things,” Hikari muttered under her breath while Ken was thinking about the time he had gained data from Devimon to make Chimairamon. Maybe it wasn't as impossible as Takeru would like to think? He would have to bring the possibility up to Daisuke and Taichi later when Takeru wasn't in the room.

“What should we do now?” Ken asked as he looked at Aiden. “He isn't going to be happy once he learns that one of his Digimon is now missing.”

Takeru took Aiden's Digivices out of his pocket and set them on the nightstand along with the bracelets. Takeru actually felt really guilty about Botamon being captured even though they had tried their best to get him back. They might have been able to avoid it if he hadn't taken the bracelets off Aiden but as Trace had said it might have ended up killing him. Luna stood up and walked out of the room for a moment.

“Before we plan anything it'll be best to wait until Aiden wakes up so we can find out just what happened back there exactly,” Taichi said as he looked at Trace. “Is it alright if he stays here?”

“Don't see why not. Its not like I'll be using the bed any time soon,” Trace told him and Taichi nodded.

“Good if we're lucky Kitsumon won't come here looking for him,” Taichi said as Ken set the backpack down next to the bed. Takeru walked over to it and opened it up to look inside. Normally Takeru would have left it alone but he didn't see Aiden carrying a backpack around in the Digital World with personal items in it. The others must have agreed with him because he heard no objections from them.

“What's inside?” Lee asked curiously.

Takeru pulled the journals and files out handing them to Taichi as he then went for the laptop. “They're in another language...” Taichi said as he handed them off to Ken since he couldn't make out what they where. Ken looked them over then shook his head.

“I don't think these are in a language from our world,” Ken said as Takeru looked at Trace.

“Is there a place I can plug this in at?” he asked holding the laptop up and the plug.

“Yeah over here,” Trace said and lead him to the desk where his laptop was set up. He unplugged his from the wall and Takeru handed him the power cord from the one Aiden had to plug it in. Takeru then set it down on the desk near the plug and opened it up hitting the power button. It powered on, but Takeru could tell from the start up screen it wasn't going to do them any good. It wasn't in Japanese or English and looked a lot like the writing on the papers Ken was looking at.

“I think this came from the same place those papers did,” Takeru said as he shut the laptop off via the button since he didn't think he could read the start menu to figure it out. “We really are going to have to wait for Aiden to wake up.” Luna came back into the room at that point with a bowl of water and she set it down near the bed soaking a towel in it then she laid the towel on Aiden's forehead.

“We'll have to buy some things later,” Luna commented as she glanced at Hikari who nodded in agreement. Luna then looked at the others. “I doubt he'll wake up for awhile. Those bracelets of his would have drained a lot of his energy and he's had to fight that way for three days straight now,” Luna said and Takeru nodded as he took a seat at the desk for a moment. The affects from the running he did was starting to show as the muscles in his chest where beginning to spasm.

“I am not looking forward to telling him about his Digimon,” Takeru admitted wishing he could take the brace off right now.

“There was nothing we could do about that. We didn't have the fighting power to help them and they where already badly hurt by the time we did arrive,” Daisuke told him and shook his head. “I don't even know how they fought for as long as they did.”

“That's easy. It's because they had to,” V-mon told Daisuke as he looked at him. “if they had stopped fighting at any point during that battle Aiden probably would have been killed.”

“Any one of us would do the same!” Koramon added and the other Digimon agreed with him.

“Well I hope you never do.”

“We should probably head home now so we can get some sleep ourselves. There is no point in staying if Aiden isn't going to wake up any time soon,” Taichi said as he began to head for the door. Takeru stood to follow him when a wave of exhaustion washed over him. Trace grabbed hold of his arm to keep him from falling. Takeru was grateful for that he was in enough pain as it was.

Takeru was about to thank him when Trace spoke up, “Takeru is staying here.” Everyone turned to look at him while Takeru starred at him a bit wide eyed. “Oh come on like none of you can tell how exhausted he is! If he's here Luna and I can keep an eye on him and at least he can try to have some sleep without worrying something is going to happen,” Trace explained then he looked at Takeru. “No one can get away without sleep not even me.”

“Right with the two of us watching you if something does happen we'll be able to wake you up,” Luna said agreeing with her twin then she looked at the other Chosen Children. “Anyone else that wants to stay is free to.”

“I'll stay,” Daisuke said since V-mon was now able to evolve. He really didn't want to leave Takeru and the others here without some type of back up. “What about you?” he asked looking at Ken.

“I'll stay as well,” Ken said in the same opinion as Daisuke was.

“Then you two can stay in here with Aiden to make sure that he doesn't cause trouble if he happens to wake up sooner then we think he will,” Luna suggested and the two agreed with the idea. “I'll go get a couple of futons then.” With that Luna left the room.

“Aright since the two of you are staying here I'm heading home. I won't be of much help right now anyway. Call me if anything does happen though,” Taichi told them.

“We should probably go as well,” Kohana said and Hikari nodded in agreement as she handed the Digi-Egg over to Lee.

“Tell Luna we'll bring some things over for Aiden before school today,” Hikari told him and Lee nodded as he gently hugged the egg. She then followed Kohana and their Digimon out of the room.

“Alright then Takeru we'll move to Luna's room. Lee you can have the other bed in there since it's going to be a bit crowded in here alright?” Trace said as he began to walk towards the door Takeru following after him.

“Alright,” Lee said as he got off the bed taking the Digi-Egg with him. As they walked out Luna came back with a stack of futons in her arms. “Hikari said her and Kohana will bring some things over for Aiden before school,” he told his sister who nodded. He then went ahead of his brother and Takeru into the room Bearmon, a limping Rascmon, and Patamon following after him.

Takeru waited until the door was closed before speaking to Trace. “I thought you said you couldn't really do anything without the key.”

“I can't, but I can at least tell when something is wrong and out of all your friends Luna and I are the only ones who can really afford to miss a night of sleep. We don't have school remember?” Trace pointed out as he opened the door to the other room. Bithamon had moved into here at some point after they had gotten back and was curled up on one of the beds sound asleep. Lee went to join her making sure to pull his shoes off first. Once Lee had settled and had placed the Digi-Egg on the pillow beside him Bithamon opened one eye and moved curling up behind Lee's legs this time. Bearmon joined Lee on the bed laying down beside him being mindful of the Digi-egg. Rascmon then took advantage of Lee's size and sleeping habit and took the foot of the bed. Takeru couldn't help but wonder if the young teen was crowded, but he didn't seem upset to have the Digimon with him.

Takeru sat down on the other bed undoing the straps for the brace while he waited for Luna to come back. While the two waited Trace pulled a few chairs over to the side of the bed while Takeru set the brace beside the bed then took his keys and things out of his pockets sending a text message to his mom about what was going on before setting his cellphone down as well onto the night stand. When Luna came back she took the chair beside Trace and Takeru slipped his boots off then laid down while Patamon settled on Rascmon's back so he was out of the way of the twins.

Now that he was laying down it didn't take very long at all for Takeru to actually fall asleep...

 

Takeru sat in a grassy field and when he felt pressure on his back he knew that Aderes was there. She sat with her back to his leaning against his slightly. “Why can I never remember you when I'm awake?” Takeru asked her as he glanced over his shoulder at her. She looked a bit older to him, but not by much. He also noted that the teddy bear was now missing.

“You remember the important things!” she pointed out as she turned to face his back and changed positions to where she was on her knees now. She leaned against his back her arms hanging over his shoulders most of her weight now on him due to this. Since this was a dream doing this did not hurt Takeru. “You're also more lucid this time,” she commented and he realized that she was right. The last few times he had been here he had followed along at her pace. Now he only had to do so if he chose to do so. There really was nothing wrong with doing so either since he had no idea just what was going on.

They sat there in silence for awhile until Takeru finally asked the question he had been dreading to ask her for awhile now, “Do you have a key?”

Aderes giggled as she hugged him momentarily before letting her arms hang again. “Nope! I don't have one!” She told him as she stood and moved to where she was in front of him and stuck her hands in her pockets pulling them out to prove that they where empty. For a moment he thought he saw a flash of something sitting on her shoulder but it was gone as fast as he seen it.

“You could be hiding it,” Takeru pointed out to her.

Aderes giggled again and said in agreement, “I could. Do you think I'm hiding one Takeru?” No, Takeru didn't think she had one. What would be the point of hiding it if she did? He was about to shake his head when Aderes face visibly paled as a look of horror passed over her face. “Takeru where's the dream catcher?” She asked fear evident in her voice as she grabbed a hold of his hands.

“Dream catcher? It's at home... Wait how do you even know about that?” he asked her confused. She began to tug on his hands trying to get him to stand when he felt something wrap around his throat and began to choke him. Takeru instantly began to struggle against whatever it was that had grabbed a hold of him digging his nails into it.

“No!” Aderes shrieked as she ran past Takeru and began attacking whatever it was that had a hold of him kicking and punching it. At that moment, from the corner of his eye, he spotted Frimon and knew exactly how she knew about the dream catcher then.

“Tail Slap!” Frimon shouted directing the attack at whatever it was that held Takeru, but it still did not release him. At that point Takeru was beginning to panic as his vision began to darken...

Then Takeru's eyes snapped open to see a large man that was heavily scarred standing over him. As Takeru began to sit up the man turned to face Trace who was standing by the side of the bed. Before Takeru could ask what was going on the man had grabbed a hold of the front of Trace's shirt and had him pinned against the nearest wall causing Trace to wince when his head collided with it and Lee to wake up with a start as well as all the Digimon. It was then that Takeru realized that the man was an obvious weight lifter. He had to be to be able to pick Trace up like that.

“What the hell did you do?” the man snapped at Trace who looked a bit pale. Takeru noticed Rascmon wasn't reacting to what was going on, he seemed calm even, and was about to help Trace himself when a flash of light signified that Patamon had evolved and Angemon gently placed his staff on the man's shoulder.

“Let him go,” Angemon ordered his voice calm. The man did as he was told holding his hands up in the air to show he was no longer a threat.

“It's alright Angemon... He's my uncle,” Trace said even though he did move to where the bed was now in between him and his uncle. Angemon looked at Trace for a moment before pulling his staff away then devolved down to Patamon and joined Takeru on the bed. The uncle watched Patamon for a moment to make sure nothing else was going to happen before turning his attention back to the nephew. “Where is the key?” he asked his voice flat and Takeru realized then he was speaking English with a sort of accent that made it a bit hard for Takeru to understand him.

Trace paled even more as he took a few steps back. “It was stolen...” he answered also speaking English. When he had told Angemon that this was his uncle it had been in Japanese. Then his uncle glared at him. “I'm trying to get it back I swear!” he quickly added.

“Uncle Kyte we really are trying to get the key back! That's why we are even here!” Luna said in defense of her brother also speaking in English. By now it was obvious to Takeru that this man most likely did not speak Japanese fluently. He obviously knew enough to get him up here but probably not enough to hold a conversation.

“Being the oldest Trace I expected better of you...” Kyte said his disappointment obvious and Takeru looked a bit shocked.

“But I thought Kri-” Takeru began, in English, as he looked at the twins. Luna actually jumped on the bed causing Takeru to wince slightly as she clamped her hand over his mouth. Takeru starred at her in surprise as she held a finger to her lips.

“What?” Kyte asked looking at the two and Luna sat up pulling her hand away from Takeru.

“Nothing he's just a bit confused after waking up that's all,” Luna said and that made Kyte glare at her.

“You're lucky he ain't dead!” he snapped at her causing Takeru to reach up to touch his throat which was now hurting. Kyte saw the movement and grabbed hold of Takeru's arm pulling it towards him gently so he could see Takeru's hand. It took Takeru a moment to realize he was looking at the old burn scars and Takeru wondered just how much worse he made this by that simple movement. Kyte let him go and turned his full attention to the twins sitting on the edge of Lee's bed. “Explain. Now!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear he is the last of the Star Family in this fan fiction to appear even if it is a big family xD I wanted an older adult, one older then Krista, to be involved from their world and he was the best one to use. He also has an important part in the story that will be revealed in later chapters


	24. Chapter Twenty-Four Dream Catcher

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copyrighted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it’s Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copyright for it.

_“You're lucky he ain't dead!” he snapped at her causing Takeru to reach up to touch his throat which was now hurting. Kyte saw the movement and grabbed hold of Takeru's arm pulling it towards him gently so he could see Takeru's hand. It took Takeru a moment to realize he was looking at the old burn scars and Takeru wondered just how much worse he made this by that simple movement. Kyte let him go and turned his full attention to the twins sitting on the edge of Lee's bed. “Explain. Now!”_   

Trace sat down on the bed beside his sister. “I had my key stolen by what I thought was an angelic Digimon asking me for help...” Trace began then started to explain everything that had happened since last November with Luna, Takeru, Lee and even the Digimon sometimes adding things as he explained. The entire time Trace spoke he did not look at his uncle once. By the time Kyte was caught up on what had been happening Takeru could tell he was not at all pleased.

“You... Why the hell didn't you call me!” he snapped at Trace who still wouldn't look at him.

“I thought I could get it sooner then what I have and then after that with everything that has been going on it just slipped my mind,” Trace answered him truthfully. “It's not like I was trying to hide this from you! Besides you said yourself you did not want to be involved with this stuff anymore!”

Kyte sighed and looked at Trace. “I also told you to come to me if you ran into any trouble,” Kyte reminded his nephew. Trace did not say anything. Kyte then sat there silent for a moment thinking over what he had been told. Lee took advantage of this to hug his uncle from behind and Kyte reached back to ruffle Lee's hair. Trace might have been scared of his uncle but Lee obviously was not. Luna also took advantage of the lull as well to tap Takeru on the shoulder then she pointed to the door. Takeru nodded and followed her out into the hall.

“What did he mean Trace was the oldest? I thought Krista was by a couple years?” Takeru said as soon as he closed the door behind them.

“She is,” Luna said in agreement.

“Then why did he say that?” Takeru asked her in confusion.

“Because... He doesn't remember her,” Luna answered him her expression sad.

“What? Why not?” Takeru asked her wondering if this had something to do with the fact that he had given his key to Trace. 

“No one remembers her Takeru but us siblings and you obviously maybe Patamon even. Didn't you think it ' s strange that you haven't seen them at all since Trace said they should have joined us in that fight the other day?” she asked him as she leaned back against the wall.

“I did but I kind of figured they where doing something since you had Daisuke and the others helping you with something yesterday,” Takeru said as he watched her.

“They where trying to help us find her and Lexi. When we got back and asked the hotel if they had seen our sisters they had no idea what we where talking about or if my brothers asked they thought they meant me. We then told them that they where the ones staying in the third room that we had rented, but the woman at the desk then informed us that we only had two rooms rented. We even had them show us this on their computer and Trace's credit card statement said the same thing! That we had only rented two rooms not three! Then when we got a hold of Daisuke and them to have them help us search the city for them,” Luna explained to him.

“Why didn't you guys tell me this sooner? I could have helped look for them. Even with Tokamon I could have done that much!”

“We weren't sure if you would remember them. Daisuke and the others didn't at first and we had to remind them every ten minutes just what it was we were looking for in the first place! Lee tried to make them remember! In fact he wore himself out trying, but nothing we did worked. We ended up halting the search because we realized by then that the two of them just weren't here. Someone took them and Trace believes it's the Law Key Holder,” Luna answered him and Takeru stood there for a moment thinking over what she had just told him.

“So helping us now is even more important to you, huh?” Takeru finally said after awhile and Luna nodded. “Why do I remember then when the others don't?”

“Because after what happened in my realm Lee hunted down where your memories were stored in his realm and placed a lot of protection around it to keep them safe. They wouldn't have been able to do anything to them without alerting Lee and if they did he probably would have been able to stop the other memories from being sealed which they obviously didn't want,” she answered and Takeru shook his head. The more the Star Siblings got involved in this the more tangled up and confusing things got for them all. It almost made him miss the days he spent in the Digital World... Almost.

He also knew they would probably be a lot worse of if they had decided to just give up on Trace's key and let them deal with it completely. He also felt a bit guilty because the Star Siblings had been dragged into this as a means to make things more difficult on him. Trace opened the door and the two turned to look at him as Lee packed out a futon and went to join Daisuke and the others in the other room Bearmon following him. “Takeru he wants to talk to you,” Trace said then added, “Alone,” when Luna and Takeru both began walking towards the room. “Not counting Digimon though apparently...”

“Don't worry Takeru he won't behave like that towards you,” Luna whispered before she went to go join her brother. Takeru looked at them before walking into the room. Rascmon and Bithamon had taken over the bed Lee had abandoned though neither one of them where asleep. Patamon was sitting beside Rascmon watching Kyte. The Digimon still wasn't to sure about him and Kyte obviously wasn't to keen on Patamon either as he kept an eye on the small Digimon. It was a bit funny to Takeru since right now Patamon was small and Kyte was rather large. Kyte was now sitting on one of the chairs the twins had given up so Takeru sat down on the other one.

“You've been through a lot due to that nephew of mine and I apologize on his behalf,” he told Takeru after he sat down. He was speaking Japanese now a lot better then Takeru had thought he could with a bit of an accent, but it was easier on Takeru then trying to keep along with his English.

“Technically he's been through a lot because of me,” Takeru pointed out echoing his thoughts that he had out in the hallway. “In all honesty I think we're pretty even on everything now.”

Kyte smiled and nodded. “You're a good kid. Let me see your hands again please,” he said and Takeru held them out so he could examine them.

“How can you tell that the injury accrued in a nightmare?” Takeru asked him since he wasn't the first one able to do this. With what had happened in the dream this time he had a full recollection of Aderes and it was something he was going to talk about with the twins later on.

“It's hard to explain how I just did. You also have bruises coming up on your neck now. Is there any more scars caused by nightmares?” he asked him as he let Takeru's hands go.

“No I didn't give him a second chance after the burns. There was a bruise on my wrist from one dream but its already faded,” he told him and Kyte nodded.

“What about the girl, Kohana? Trace said he went after her as well.”

“Any injuries she received happened outside of the nightmares she's had. I've been the only one injured in our group,” Takeru said thinking about the news report that he had been told about. 

“I would also like to apologize to you and your Digimon for startling you the way I did,” Kyte told him as he glanced at Patamon for a moment.

“Why does Trace seem afraid of you?” Takeru asked him. At first he was someone Takeru could understand being afraid of but now he seemed rather nice.

“Not afraid per-say. More like he will not stand up for himself around me. These scars on my body are caused by him though they are not his fault,” Kyte said and Takeru nodded remembering being told the story. “He thinks he needs to make it up to me even though he did nothing wrong and it was not really his fault. I keep acting the way I do hoping one day he will stand up for himself or just punch me but he has yet to do either. I may have to change tactics though as this as yet to work.”

“Have you ever heard of someone named Aderes?” he asked after they sat there in silence for awhile knowing someone around her had to have the key if she didn't. After all she had ended up in this world when he was in the hospital and had given him the dream catcher which was something he would have Luna look at later on now that he knew it wasn't normal anymore.

“No I haven't... Why do you ask?”

“Can I call Luna and Trace back in before I explain? I want them to hear this as well,” Takeru asked him and Kyte nodded. Takeru stood up and opened the door. The twins where standing across the hall talking to one another by then. They both looked at him when they heard the door open. “Can you two come back in now?” The twins nodded and followed him back into the room and sat down. Takeru then began to explain to them about the dreams with Aderes.

“Why didn't you tell us this before?” Luna asked him.

“I couldn't remember any of my dreams that dealt with her. I mean I could sort of remember things from it, but not fully until I was talking to her again. She even commented about how I was more lucid this time around then I had been in the past,” Takeru told them as he gently rubbed his neck. “She wasn't to happy about me being attacked either and the way she asked about the dream catcher she gave me I would say it was it was protecting me somehow.” He then thought for a moment then added. “If I found out that thing could have been letting me sleep normally this entire time I am not going to be happy...”

“I don't blame you and if it does then I want one as well,” Trace said with a shake of his head. “Have you ever heard of anything like this before?” he asked his uncle.

“No, I haven't. I wouldn't have minded one of those when I had the key though... You sure she isn't the one with the Law Key?” Kyte asked Takeru and he nodded.

“Even if she was she wouldn't be the one causing all this trouble for us. I don't see an eight year old doing all of this,” Takeru told him as he thought about the times he had talked to her.

“Then is it possible that the friend she was talking about is? I mean she asked you before you woke up that time if you could ever forgive him and right now what other reason would you need to forgive anyone that would be connected to her?” Luna asked him and Takeru thought on that for a moment as he went over everything Aderes had said to him.

“After everything she said I would think her mother was the one who had the Law Key... She told me she was sad at the idea of telling on her friend to her mother. She was actually afraid to tell on him to her and I don't see her being afraid of a normal person,” Takeru said and Kyte shook his head.

“I don't think so. The Law Key was handed down pretty recently in terms of the keys and the current holder wouldn't be old enough to have a child the age of Aderes,” Kyte told them and everyone starred at him. “What? Once the Law Key Holder gives up the key you can remember everything about them. The last one was a woman around my age and she handed the key down early around the same time Luna and Trace got theirs. Since she handed it down early it means she had to have given it to someone young because you cannot give it to someone older then you and there wouldn't have been anyone around her age that could have handled it because only one person ever shows the ability per generation. Which also rules out Aderes and her friend as potential holders because they would be too young.”

“Yea but then how did she make the dream catcher, change her appearance and appear in Takeru's dream then?” Luna asked as she continued to stare at her uncle. “People from our world have some power to them but nothing like that!”

“What if she's the next one? I mean what if she is the next generation key holder?” Takeru asked looking at the twins. “If you can remember details about one after they had given up the key wouldn't that mean you could remember them before they hold the key as well?”

“That's possible and if it is then maybe her friend really is the current holder... Key holders visit the next generation a lot to help train them and being as powerful as she should be I doubt they could easily make her forget about them like they do us,” Trace said in agreement with Takeru remembering how it had gone before his family members received Key's. “If she is then you have a pretty good ally on your side that is trying her hardest to help you in a difficult situation.”

“I just hope she didn't cause trouble for herself with what happened. I mean if her and her Digimon did attack the Law Key Holder I think they'll have more to worry about then a simple grounding,” Kyte said as he stood up for the door. “For now Trace come with me so I can add another room to your credit card since I'm paying it off any ways. As for you Takeru I suggest you take Luna with you to retrieve that dream catcher and if it really is as good as you think it is get some sleep.” Trace stood up to follow after him and Luna looked at Takeru.

“Do you want to go fetch it?” she asked him and Takeru nodded.

“Yes and I should leave a message for my mom. I sent a quick text message to her before laying down earlier, but a real note would be better,” Takeru told her as he looked at Patamon who was sound asleep now. He was in between Bithamon and Rascmon who where also asleep again.

Luna stood up pulling her key out and a doorway appeared. Soon the two of them where standing in Takeru's room. Luna made sure to keep the door open while Takeru went into the main room to write a longer note to his mother. When he came back Luna had the dream catcher in hand and was examining it closely.

“Notice anything about it?” he asked her as he grabbed his school bag and stuffed a change of cloths in it and just in case his school uniform. He also added Patamon's and his DS Lite plus the case of games they had between the two of them. Then he sat down at his laptop to send a message to his brother letting him know what was going on since was supposed to be getting out of the hospital sometime today.

“I can tell it was made by someone with powers like mine, but that's about it,” she told him as she looked at him. “I don't know if it'll do what you hope it can do, but with your experience with her and it I think you may be right.”

“Well I guess we'll find out soon enough,” Takeru said as he walked over to the door his bag shouldered. Luna nodded taking the dream catcher with her as the two of them left. When they where back at the hotel Luna set the dream catcher next to the bed Takeru was using with the rest of his stuff then the two waited for Trace to return.

He did almost half an hour later and took a seat since Takeru was now on the bed again. “He got the room Krista and Lexi had since it was obviously empty all of a sudden,” Trace said then glanced at the dream catcher a moment before looking at Takeru. “He told me to warn you that you are still at risk if you try sleeping with that thing around and that it is your choice to make,” Trace told Takeru and he nodded.

“I know but like you said Trace I need to sleep,” Takeru said as he laid down. Since Lee had left the room Luna sat down on the edge of the bed. This time it took Takeru longer to fall asleep since he had slept a bit earlier that night already. Trace ended up letting him borrow his MP3 player which had several play lists on it one created just for helping someone sleep. It played slow, soft rhythmic songs and after that Takeru was able to fall asleep.

Takeru found himself in the field again and this time it seemed like he was alone because no matter where he looked he could not find Aderes or even Frimon. Since Aderes did not seem to like him wandering around this place he sat where he stood to wait. He would have called for her to see if she simply hadn't expected him to appear again so soon, but he was afraid someone else would come. So he sat there and waited starring up at the black sky and its few stars. Since there was no way to tell time in this place Takeru had no idea how long he had been there when he felt something land on his shoulder then nestle into his neck. He would have freaked if he didn't know about Frimon's existence and in all honesty it had taken a lot of will power to stop himself from jumping up. 

“Where is Aderes?” Takeru asked the small Digimon. He could feel him shaking slightly and it made him worried. He gently placed his hand against the small cat like Digimon petting him gently and Frimon eventually stopped shaking.

“She's coming. She didn't think you would come again...” he answered his voice did not have the happy tone it had the first time Takeru had met the tiny Digimon.

“Is she alright?” he asked and the Digimon slid down Takeru's shoulder into his lap. He looked up at the the teen then and Takeru could see that the Digimon was worried.

“She's alright. He wouldn't hurt her.,” Frimon told him then his ears twitched and he hopped back onto Takeru's shoulder then off it back in the direction he had come from. Soon Aderes plopped down beside Takeru, Frimon now sitting on her shoulder his tail lightly wrapped around her neck. From what Takeru could see she did seem to be alright, but like her Digimon she was obviously shaken up.

“Do you have the dream catcher with you this time?” she asked and Takeru nodded. She let out a sigh of relief and the two relaxed visibly which made Takeru wonder what would have happened if he didn't have it?

“Why is the dream catcher so important?”

“It helps shield you from others when you are sleeping. As long as it is near you and they do no know what to look for I'm the only one that is able to find you,” she told him as she laid down on her back causing Frimon to switch to sitting on her stomach. As for Takeru he leaned back onto his elbows and sighed.

“I wish you would have told me sooner just how important it was,” he told her as he looked up at the sky again. So much trouble could have been avoided if she had just told him!

“I am really sorry about that! I didn't think you would sleep someplace else so I thought it would be with you at all times...” she told him truthfully. It made Takeru wonder if she had never had a sleep over before or if she even know what they where. He was just glad that he hadn't tried to sleep when it wasn't around before.

“How close to me does it have to in order for it to work?” he asked her and she thought on it for a moment.

“Within ten feet. Further then that and I don't know if it would work,” she answered him which meant if it was in his room he couldn't try to sleep other places in his house. Good to know.

After that the two of them stayed quiet for awhile before Takeru finally asked her, “Do you know what might have happened to Krista and Lexi?”

“I'm sorry I don't know them and haven't heard anything about them,” she answered him and he sighed. 

“It was worth asking. Just so you do know one is the holder of the Destiny Key and is in her twenties and the other has the Time key and is a few years older then you. If you happen to see them will you tell me?” he asked her and she nodded.

After another moment of silence she asked him, “Are you mad about what happened?”

He looked at her. “Do you mean about when I came here earlier?” he asked her and she nodded. “Not at you no, but I mad at whoever chocked me like that. Who was it any way?”

“My friend that I told you about before. I didn't think he'd actually try to hurt you.”

“But you suspected it otherwise you wouldn't have given me the dream catcher like you had,” he pointed out to her.

She quickly sat up at that point and looked at him. “It wasn't because of him! It was because of that fox Digimon that walks around as if he owns the Nightmare Realm!” she told him obviously a bit upset by what Takeru had said. Frimon looked between the two of them watching them closely. It reminded Takeru of the time he had paid apt attention to Patamon's DS Lite's wrist cord and it made him wonder if the small Digimon was afraid they would fight.

“So you can travel to other realms besides my world?” he asked her deciding to change the subject for now since she really didn't seem to want to stick to the one they where currently on. She nodded her head glad for the change. “Do you do it often?”

“More so now then what I used to. Momma didn't like me doing it very much so I tried not to, but now I do it because it's important,” she told him as she picked up Frimon and held him in her hands. The Digimon nuzzled his cheek against her thumb as she gently rubbed his cheek with it. “I tried making it harder for Kitsumon at first, but that black dragon got made at me and started attacking me whenever I tried so I had to stop,” she told him as she held Frimon up to her shoulder so he could hop up there which he did. Takeru knew about the dragon she was talking about. Hikari had told him about it one time during lunch. It made Takeru wonder why Trace hadn't done anything about it before.

“Hey, Takeru?” she asked him as she turned to look at him. “Do you know what the difference is between Light and Hope?”

“One is the embodiment of what is good inside of someone and the world really while the other is the belief that things will turn out all right in the end,” he answered her having looked it up once not long after the Digital Gate had been closed when he was a child. Light did not really have a definition in the sense that Takeru had wanted. He had mainly found things to do with light as in candle light, light as in weight or something coming to light as in a realization. As for hope the definition of it had been clear enough for him to understand.

Aderes giggled then said, “I didn't mean by dictionary definition! I meant as in do you know why Hope is more powerful then Light?” Takeru blinked and shook his head. He had never thought about it before and to him one did not seem stronger  then the other. In all honesty they seemed to be parts of a whole at times to him.

She smiled at him and looked off into the distance. “One is an emotion. It is something one can actually feel and was there long before humans ever dare put a word to it,” she told him and looked at him again. “You should know that better  then anyone. The other is a concept. An idea actually born from the hope humans had that the world was not just a dark place full of despair for them. That there was good in it and that Light could beat Darkness...” she said and Takeru starred at her for a bit having never really thought of it that way before. She grinned at him then and added, “Thus without Hope there would be no Light! Hence Hope is stronger then Light! So... Don't worry so much alright?”

Takeru awoke a bit confused for a moment as the hotel room was pretty dark right that moment. He thought maybe he had slept a lot longer  then he had intended to then he noticed that it was simply the curtains  where closed over the rather large window and that they  where thick enough to block out the light. He began to shift slightly when he felt a weight on him and looked to see that  Bithamon was laying on top of him. The cat like Digimon had made sure to stay off his ribs sticking to his thighs so as not to hurt him. She had awoken when she felt him move and she stood up stretching with a yawn before hopping off him.

“Patamon is in that room over there,” she told him pointing to the room on the side Aiden wasn't in. “He is with Lee and  Bearmon . Daisuke and Ken left to go to school earlier this morning. Also, your brother is now watching over Aiden with his Digimon and Sora is with him as well as her Digimon. Hikari and Kohana stopped by earlier with medicine for Aiden like they said. Your mother did as well since you forgot your medicine,” she informed him as she stretched again then began to wash her face.

Takeru sat up and grabbed his  cellphone to read the time wincing as he did so. Despite her being considerate he was still pretty sore, but Takeru did not think it was her fault more  then likely it was because of the running he had done last night. It made him grateful that his mother had dropped his medicine off. The clock on his  cellphone told him that it was well into the afternoon which actually shocked him. “Why didn't anyone wake me up?” he asked  Bithamon as he grabbed his bag to dig out the change of  cloths . He spotted the medicine sitting on the night stand so he grabbed it as well.

“Daisuke was going to so that you could go to school with them, but Yamato stopped him before he could. He thought it was best to let you sleep in as much as you could and your mother agreed with him since she was here by then. Plus from the text messages Yamato was getting before I came in here I'd say  its a good thing you are here instead of at the school,” she told him as she watched him. 

“What about Luna and Trace?” he asked realizing she hadn't mentioned the two of them when she was listing off where everyone was at.

“Trace,  Rascmon and  Kyte are in the nearby shopping district. Apparently Kyte came here in a hurry for reasons known only to him. Last I saw of Luna she was trying to keep her brother quiet so he didn't wake you,” she answered him as she hopped off the bed. Then she walked over to the door and stood up on her hind legs using her paws to manipulate the knob. When she had it opened she walked out into the hallway making sure to close it behind her. Takeru starred at the door for a moment surprised she could even open the door before he went into the bathroom to change his  cloths and take his medicine. Once he was finished he picked up his stuff off the nightstand and put it back into his pockets then he walked out into the hallway leaving both his brace and bag in the room. He really didn't want to put it on at the moment.

Takeru opened the door to the room Aiden was in. His brother looked up from whatever he was looking at on his  cellphone and smiled slightly. “Finally decided to wake up huh?” he asked him.

“I didn't think I would sleep that much... How is he?” he asked Sora who was sitting in a chair by Aiden's bed. Aiden was asleep with a cold pack on his forehead, but his Digimon certainly was not. Punimon sat on Aiden's chest watching Sora very closely and Takeru thought he could even hear him growling at her every once in awhile. Takeru had a feeling at this moment it was probably a very good thing that the Baby One Digimon could not talk to them.

“He's still running a high fever despite the medicine Luna managed to get him to take. He also hasn't woken up yet and even slept through Jou changing him into pajamas Jou brought with him when he checked on him earlier today.  Jou told us the only thing we can do is wait and try to bring the fever down,” Sora answered him then she gently poked the small Digimon in the chest and Takeru was sure this time he heard it growl. “As for this guy he has been causing us nothing but problems and I have yet to be able to get him to eat anything.”

“Did you happen to point out to him he'll be useless to Aiden when he wakes up since if he doesn't eat there is no chance of him evolving back up to Black Gabumon? Or how about the fact that without any energy even if we did have something planned he couldn't stop us because Acid Bubbles from a Baby One Digimon doesn't exactly hurt it's just annoying? There is also the fact that to save his friend, Botamon, we might need his help which he won't be able to give without evolving? Oh there is also the fact we saved both him and Aiden when we didn't have to,” Takeru pointed out as he starred at the little Digimon knowing it did Punimon no good to starve himself like this. He then picked up the sandwich half that Sora had been trying to feed Punimon and held it out to the Digimon. He glared at Takeru for a moment before he began devouring the sandwich almost biting Takeru in the process.

“You better not let Elecmon hear you talk like that to one of his babies,” Yamato said grinning. The small Digimon took the other half of the sandwich from Sora being more careful then he had with Takeru.

“Elecmon probably would have done the same thing,” Takeru said as he sat down on the end of the free bed. “ Bithamon told me when I woke up it was probably a good thing that I didn't go to school today. What did she mean by that?”

“I knew I heard that door open,” Yamato muttered before speaking aloud, “I got some text messages from Daisuke before class started saying there are parents showing up at the school to complain about what happened. Some have even pulled their kids out of the school while others have simply asked to have their kids transferred to a different class. He had more  then one parent say something to him when they saw him arrive. The others had as well apparently.”

“Maybe all of us should have stayed home today...” Takeru said with a sigh then shook his head. “Still I can't really blame them for being upset and I am sorry that it happened. Their kids did get dragged into it for the sole reason that we attend that school.”

“Yeah well from what I know of it was general knowledge that you and the rest would be attending that school so they can take part of the blame as well. They didn't mind when they thought it would actually make their kids safer. Funny thing is Aiden is safe from their criticism because no one really knows his Digimon,” Yamato told him.

“He's not getting off completely free. Our homeroom teacher recognized his Digimon and told me he'll at least face suspension though I'm not so sure how much of this is actually his fault this time,” Takeru said as he glanced at Aiden. “There is now way he got this bad just from fighting Kitsumon.”

“Good thing you gave him your contact information,” Sora said as she changed the  icepack that was currently on Aiden's forehead with a newer one. “There is no telling how bad things would have been for him if you hadn't.”

“Like I told him I didn't trust Kitsumon...” Takeru said as he stood up. “I'm gonna go see what Patamon is currently up to now. I'll be back in a bit,” Takeru told them as he walked towards the door.

“I'll come get you if he happens to wake up before you come back,” Yamato told him and Takeru nodded before he went out to the hallway. He then walked to the room on the other side of the one he had been in. This time he knocked before he opened the door. Luna was laying on her stomach on one of the beds a game controller in hand while Lee and Bearmon where on the other each with a game controller as well. Patamon was on the bed beside Luna and  Bithamon had came here after waking up and was now sitting on the floor between the two beds. From what Takeru could tell they  where playing some type of fighting game.

Patamon turned to look at him when he heard the door open. “Takeru!” he said happily as he jumped off the bed and flew over to Takeru. “ Bithamon said you  where awake!”

Takeru laughed as he caught Patamon. “Good afternoon to you as well,” he said smiling.

“Do you want something to eat? I can order some room service for you,” Luna offered as she changed into a sitting position. Lee took advantage of her being distracted for a moment to send her character flying off the screen which caused her to throw a pillow at her brother.

“Yes please and thank you,” Takeru told her as he sat down in a chair. Luna nodded and set the controller down so she could use the phone. She then ordered a few things and by the number of items it obviously wasn't all for Takeru.

“Did you happen to talk to  Aderes again?” Luna asked him after she had hung the phone up.

“Yeah I did. Apparently the dream catcher somehow hides me from Kitsumon so I guess it's not actually a perfect protection and it won't do what Trace was hoping,” he told her as he let Patamon up onto his shoulder. “She also didn't think her friend would do such a thing to me as it was never meant as a precaution for him just Kitsumon.”

“Did she tell you who he was?”  Bithamon asked him and Takeru shook his head.

“I didn't ask. Talking about him seems to upset her and I was afraid if I pushed her to hard she might not want to speak with me anymore,” he answered then sighed. “I think she believes this entire mess is Kitsumon's fault...”

“Fat chance of that! Someone had to have told Kitsumon about the existence of the keys there is no way he managed to somehow guess about them!” Luna said as she sent her brothers game character flying in revenge for what he had done earlier.

Takeru thought on what she said for a moment then said, “You guys didn't seem to think he was working with anyone until later though.”

“That was because we  where kind of hoping that he was alone and did stumble upon it. That this entire mess would be solved after Seraphimon beat him the first time. We didn't want more trouble to be made so if it did end we weren't going to think to hard on it, but would simply keep an eye out on things for awhile. That proved not to be true obviously though! He knew way to much to have simply stumbled upon my brother and his key!” Takeru nodded in agreement and wished things really had been that simple. That they had just ended when Seraphimon had beaten Shaitanmon. Things would have been so much better that way for them all.

“Any way did anything else happen while I was sleeping?” he asked her.

“Not really. Not unless you didn't already hear about what was going on at your school.”

“I did I talked to Yamato first. I just hope it isn't causing the others to much trouble,” Takeru said then added, “Then again if it where they could blame the school for not doing its job of keeping them safe while on school grounds I suppose...”

“I think  its stupid that they are even reacting the way they are. Digimon aren't all cute and cuddly things that want to be good and listen to everything they are told,” Luna said as she began to pet  Bithamon who had jumped onto the bed letting Bearmon and Lee continue the game on their own. “I mean some of them have animal like qualities but they have a mind of their own and are going to do what they want no matter what someone says. The way they are acting you would think you guys staged the entire thing!”

“I take it you watched the news yesterday?” Takeru asked her remembering what he had saw on it himself and she nodded. “Not all the parents are gonna think like that. There will be some that will be glad that we helped protect them even though they will know it wouldn't have happened if we weren't there. They will be the ones who knew that we simply could have worried about ourselves and could have left their kids to defend for themselves.”

“Are you going to take your teachers  advise and stay home?” Lee asked him as he began to shut the game system down instead of continuing to play. Lee might have beaten Luna in the long run, but from what Takeru had been able to see Bearmon had been the winner of the round. The two where most likely stopping because they knew food would be coming soon.

“I think just for today unless things don't calm down by Monday then maybe I will stay home then as well just to keep from something like this happening again to soon,” Takeru answered him. “I don't want to miss more then I have to in case something happens later on and I do have to stay home. It would be bad to use up all of my excused absences just to hide away at home.”

“To bad you don't have home school like us then you wouldn't have to worry about it at all!” Lee pointed out and Luna turned to look at him.

“Speaking of which have you been working on your school work?” she asked him. He looked at her for a moment before he took off for the room he had been sharing with Trace to go get his school work. “I'll take that as a no...” Luna said as she watched him run.

“What about you? Have you been working on it?” Takeru asked her a slight smile on his face.

“I'm caught up for the moment. The problem is how are we going to get more? Krista was the one in charge of getting it for Trace, Lexi and I and as for Lee he was being taught by Krista's boyfriend so there is no telling if he has forgotten all about us or not,” Luna said with a slight sigh. “Trace managed to get a head with how little he sleeps before Krista vanished which is saying something seems how he was so far behind before. I'm probably going to have to make a trip back home soon to find out just how much trouble the person who took Krista and Lexi has made for us since she is also Lee's legal guardian on our world.” Takeru frowned slightly having not thought about how Krista's disappearance might affect the rest of the Star siblings normal lives.

“Good luck,” Takeru said since it was the only thing he could think of to say and Luna nodded. Lee came back a bit later once he had retrieved his bag with his school work in it then set himself up at the desk in the room to work on it. It was long after he had arrived that the food Luna had ordered arrived and Takeru's stomach was very happy at the sight of it.


	25. Chapter Twenty-Five The Virus

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copyrighted to Bandai, Toei, and of course it's Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copyright for it. 
> 
> A/N - I posted two chapters back to back this is the second one

_" I'm caught up for the moment. The problem is how are we going to get more? Krista was the one in charge of getting it for Trace, Lexi and I and as for Lee he was being taught by Krista's boyfriend so there is no telling if he has forgotten all about us or not," Luna said with a slight sigh. "Trace managed to get ahead with how little he sleeps before Krista vanished which is saying something seems how he was so far behind before. I'm probably going to have to make a trip back home soon to find out just how much trouble the person who took Krista and Lexi has made for us since she is also Lee's legal guardian on our world." Takeru frowned slightly having not thought about how Krista's disappearance might affect the rest of the Star siblings normal lives.  _

_ "Good luck," Takeru said since it was the only thing he could think of to say and Luna nodded. Lee came back a bit later once he had retrieved his back with his school work in it then set himself up at the desk in the room to work on it. It was long after he had arrived that the food Luna had ordered arrived and Takeru's stomach was very happy at the sight of it. _

Later that afternoon, Daisuke and the others showed up at the hotel. With them they brought copies of Hikari and Kohana's notes for Takeru and Aiden. Kohana had copied her notes because she had done them both in English and Japanese for Aiden's sake to make it easier for him to read. She had written them in both languages in hopes of helping increasing his skills in Japanese. By then Trace and Kyte had already gotten back with various things for Kyte and things the Star siblings had needed as well. Takeru noted that Kyte seemed surprised by just how many kinds and Digimon had shown up so far. It made Takeru wonder what he would think if all of his friends happened to show up.

It wasn't long before a fighting game tournament was started by Lee in the room he now shared with his uncle. This made several people happy, mainly Daisuke and V-mon, since there was nothing they could do to help at the moment. Takeru ended up in Aiden's room to work on his homework and go over the notes from Hikari. He had also gone into this room because Sora had to leave soon and he didn't want Yamato watching Aiden on his own.

By the time Sora had left Aiden's fever had finally started to go down. This meant they wouldn't have to take him to the hospital as Jou had told them to do by tomorrow if it hadn't gone down. Punimon kept a close eye on the two brothers though he didn't seem to mind Patamon or Tsunomon going near him or Aiden. Takeru figured he had the same opinion on Digimon and humans as Aiden did.

It was made even more obvious by the fact Punimon was currently sitting at the foot of the bed Aiden was asleep in watching Patamon as he played on his DS Lite. His focus was more on the game then it was Patamon. As for Patamon he was playing in here because his hands weren't suited for the controllers of the game system Lee owned. Due to that he had just followed Takeru into this room. He had originally been on the other bed, but when Punimon had shown interest in his game yet a reluctance to join him on the other bed Patamon had moved to him.

As for Yamato he was now looking through the papers from Aiden's backpack. Takeru had a feeling that he wasn't really learning anything from them. He believed his brother was just going through them for something to do. To Takeru the writing on the papers looked like chicken scratch and it really didn't help that it was in another language. It gave him a headache just looking at it.

Takeru was in the middle of putting his homework into his school bag when he heard Aiden groan. Takeru turned to look at the red headed teen in time to see Aiden sit up slightly. "Where am I?" Aiden asked as he looked around the room his eyes stopping on the two brothers.

"You're in a hotel room that the Star siblings are currently renting," Takeru answered him as Punimon quickly hoped up to Aiden. Aiden seemed a bit shocked to see the Baby One Digimon as he picked him up.

"Where is Black Agumon? Or most likely Botamon?" he asked as she looked around the room again not seeing the small Digimon anywhere in the room.

"Kitsumon has him," Yamato answered him as he set the papers down. "He grabbed a hold of him before any of us could. Punimon is only safe because Kusarimon managed to grab him before someone else did. He tried to get Botamon back for you and was injured because of it."

Aiden starred at his Digimon for a moment before he said, "He won't harm him... Most likely he'll try to use him to get the laptop and things back that I took from him."

"Speaking of that, just what are those things? They have to be pretty important to take the risks that you did," Takeru said as he glanced at the laptop. It was still plugged in, but it hadn't been turned on since the first time.

"It's the data on the virus I told you about before... On how it was made, the testing results, the thoughts of the man who made it before and after it was released unto my world. I didn't want to leave it with Kitsumon because he was obviously very willing to use it. I also kind of hoped that maybe someone you knew could make some type of cure with it or something like that..." Aiden told him while he set his Digimon back down on the bed. He was a lot calmer then Takeru would have been in his place given his situation.

"And the Digi Egg?" Takeru asked pointing to where it was now currently resting on a pillow in a corner of the room wrapped up in an electric blanket. Takeru didn't know if heat was actually needed for a Digimon Egg to hatch but it was better than doing nothing at all. That and Lee had insisted an egg needed heat and no one could persuade him otherwise. Patamon had more than once while he had been in the room flown over to it and gently rubbed the Digimon Egg, but there was no sign of it hatching any time soon from what Takeru was able to tell.

Aiden looked at it then sighed. "It's Minervamon's. I asked her to choose sides and surprisingly she picked mine. That's what ended up happening to her. I'm glad to see it's alright cause when I saw it last it wasn't looking as solid as it is now. I was afraid she wasn't going to survive," he answered and Takeru was a bit surprised. He knew Minervamon liked Aiden, but he didn't think she had liked him enough to actually fight against Kitsumon for his sake. Apparently she did and even at the risk of being deleted she had continued to fight. Just what had Aiden done to gain her absolute trust like that?

"Did you happen to learn anything new about the virus?" Yamato asked him and Aiden nodded.

"Apparently it wasn't actually meant to be as lethal as it was. The man that made it was actually trying to find a way to make other Digimon besides the Chosen's on my world to evolve higher than their Adult stages or stop the evolution completely. He tested it on Digimon who had volunteered, but he could tell after the first test that it was in no way what he wanted and that it could even be dangerous if one wasn't careful with it.

"After that he tried to destroy it since he was working for a company that had a real close ties to the military. In the end the virus was discovered when the Digimon he tested it on overwhelmed the safety precautions he had used. After that he goes on to say he was forced to continue development of the virus though he never did state just how they were forcing him to do it. We were told they developed the virus to stop Digimon from evolving past their adult stage but instead what it really was meant to do was make an adult Digimon more powerful then even an Ultimate," Aiden told them.

"But it didn't do just that," Patamon said remembering what Aiden had told them about the virus.

"Exactly, they stupidly released it onto the military connected Digimon and from there it spread far faster than anyone could try to contain. The Digimon must have wiped the entire base out as well because after the man wrote how horrified he was about what was happening and what he had made the entries just stopped. I don't think he survived what happened that day," Aiden told them then shook his head. "After that it was made illegal to do experiments on Digimon or the Digital World because they realized to late they were messing with something they just couldn't handle."

"To bad others had to pay the price before they learned that lesson," Takeru said and Aiden nodded in agreement. "If you can would you translate it for us so we can try passing it on to some people that we know that are studying Digimon? If anyone would be able to break it down and make a cure it would be them, but why do you want a cure?"

"Because Kitsumon had this stuff long enough to at least make some of the virus and with how it had a tendency of spreading it wouldn't take very long for all of Japan to be infected by it. Also I seriously doubt you guys would want to wait for the Digivices to change like ours did. He'll most likely want it back though because he probably wants more to be able to spread it around all the much quicker," Aiden told them then asked, "Have you heard from him yet?"

"No not yet... He's probably to busy relocating right now to worry about contacting us right this minute..." Takeru told him and then asked, "Are you going to hand it over to him?"

"Hell no!" Aiden snapped a look of anger on his face for a moment then it was gone just as fast as it had appeared. "No I wouldn't trust him to give my Digimon back even if I did give him everything! No, I'm keeping it and I'll just have to figure out some other way to get Botamon back from him!"

"Well we'll do what we can to help you. I really don't like the idea of leaving any Baby One Digimon in Kitsumon's hands," Takeru told him and looked at his brother who was in agreement with him.

"You do realize that the only other thing he's going to be willing to trade for my Digimon if I won't give him the virus data will be either you or Patamon?" Aiden asked as she looked at Takeru. The fact Takeru and the others were helping him wasn't that much of a surprise to him anymore. He was already used to the fact that he couldn't get the Chosen Children to mind their own business. The question now was just how far were they actually willing to go in order to help him and his Digimon?

"I know and I'm willing to do it," Takeru told him and he looked at his brother again missing Aiden's look of shock. This time Yamato wasn't looking at Takeru and Takeru had a feeling he was doing it on purpose. His brother was most likely very angry at him for willing to do it, but he also knew his brother would do it if the situations where reversed. "I have an idea on what to do, but I'm going to need to ask some things first..." Takeru added as he pulled out his cell phone to let the others know Aiden was awake and that he wanted them to join him in here if the could.

"Why? Why are you willing to put yourself at risk for my Digimon?" he asked Takeru as the teen put his cellphone up.

"No one should ever have to go through the pain of losing a Digimon. You already felt what it was like to see a friend risk their live in order to save yours and I am not sure just what you did to make Minervamon like you that much, but I'll tell you now the feeling of losing your own Digimon will be much worse," Takeru answered him. He also felt a bit guilty as well. If he hadn't pulled the bracelets off Aiden then his Digimon might have been able to continue fighting until they had manage to get Aiden to safety. Then again either the Digimon or Aiden might have ended up dead if he hadn't. He was trying his hardest to convince himself that it wasn't his fault because in all honesty there was no way for him to know how either choice would have turned out. He had made the one he thought was best at the time and he just had to remember that.

"Granted as I said I have a plan because I promised someone I wouldn't do anything stupid," he told Aiden as he remembered his promise to Taichi. Soon they were joined by the others who were either forced to sit on the bed, floor or to just stand since the room didn't have a whole lot of places to actually sit. Yamato explained to them what Aiden had already had told them and they asked their own questions of him. Takeru didn't pay that much attention to what was said as he tried his hardest to work on the plan he was forming. It would have to be a good one to get his friends to agree with it after all.

"Luna is it possible for me to use your key?" Takeru asked her after they had finished asking Aiden their questions about the virus. The red headed teen was already working on translating the papers to English having decided it would be faster to have him do that then Kohana would translate it to Japanese when he had one page done. Kohana and Ken both watched him as he worked unless Kohana had a page to work on. The two seemed to be trying to learn the language most likely with the idea if they could then maybe they could help Aiden because there was quiet a lot of papers to translate. Takeru wished the two of them luck on that.

"I thought I've answered this already? If I give you permission then you should be able to use it. Just realize that you can only probably open a door once in a day two if your lucky or you'll end up like Lee when you saw him open two that one day," Luna answered him then thought over it realizing this was a strange question. "Why do you want to know? What are you planning?"

"Aiden thinks that Kitsumon will ask for either Takeru or Patamon in exchange for his Digimon since he won't give up the virus data. Takeru already knows that we won't let him do so unless he can come up with a very good plan that will keep himself from getting killed," Yamato answered and he had yet to look at Takeru at this point. Takeru had the bad feeling he had managed to anger his brother a lot more than he could imagine and if he didn't think of a good plan not only would he not be able to help Aiden his brother would most likely be angry at him for awhile for even suggesting it.

"Are you thinking of using Luna's key as a means to escape? What happens if Kitsumon locks you up in a cell like the one he had you and Trace in earlier?" Rascmon asked him which was of course a very good question. The Dog Digimon was sitting curled around Minervamon's egg at the moment since it was out of the way of the others and served to help the egg at the same time.

"Simple, I wouldn't wait long enough for him to do that to me. I'd only wait just long enough for him to hand over Aiden's Digimon then I'd get out of there. Patamon will be useless fighting once I'm gone since I doubt he'll do the trade if we walk up with a whole bunch of ultimate Digimon. If we do this Patamon I want you to stay with Yamato or anyone else that happens to have an Ultimate level Digimon at the time, okay?" Takeru asked looking at the Digimon who was still on the foot of the bed. Patamon wasn't playing anymore, but Aiden's Digimon was sitting beside him so maybe he had managed to make a new friend. "If he gets a hold of both of us somehow things are going to go downhill fast."

"Alright I will," Patamon told him and Takeru nodded glad that he agreed to do so.

"We still haven't agreed to do this yet," Daisuke pointed out to Takeru. "How do we know that Kitsumon won't just take you and run while not handing over Aiden's Digimon to him?"

"Or that he'll really give us Aiden's Digimon? I've been to Primary Village there are a ton of Baby One Digimon that look just like Aiden's Botamon. I wouldn't put it past that fox bastard to snatch one of them to use as a substitute for the real thing," Trace said and Takeru had to agree with him that it would be just like Kitsumon to do something like that.

"Elecmon would tell us if something like that where to happen since he'd want us to help him get the baby back for him," Takeru argued knowing full well his friend wouldn't just let a baby Digimon be stolen from him without asking for help in get them back if they couldn't get them back first that is.

"If he can. Elecmon wouldn't be able to save himself if Kitsumon decided he didn't want anyone spilling his secrets," Trace countered and Takeru knew that he was right. Elecmon wasn't the strongest Digimon out there after all...

"Then if we have to we can have someone camp out in Primary Village to make sure that doesn't happen. I bet you could do that Trace since I know Rascmon would love to be there," Luna said looking at her brother with a look that told him he better watch his words better. "That way if he does show up or if something has happened we'll know. Kusarimon should be fast enough to get you to the closest terminal before Kitsumon caught you. The only reason you got caught that time was because you two had no idea where to go. At least that's what you told me."

Trace glanced at Rascmon knowing full well that his Digimon really would love to spend time in Primary Village again. As it was the only reason he wasn't near Punimon was because of how nervous the little Digimon was. "I'll do it, but I'm taking Lee with me," he said looking at his twin who nodded in agreement. Better there than anywhere else right now.

"Hey! I wanna help Takeru," Lee shouted as he looked at his older brother a pleading look on his face. Trace just shook his head.

"You will be. You'll be making sure he doesn't trade himself for something other than the Digimon we are after! Besides we need to be free of the battle to go pick him up if he happens to end up someplace other than this world," Trace told him and while Takeru could see Lee was now pouting the younger teen nodded in agreement.

"Alright we have that problem worked out but what happens if you get trapped in another illusion? Or worse yet if a certain someone does happen to show up and you freeze up?" Yamato asked him and Takeru knew then that Taichi had told him about what Kitsumon had been hinting at. Takeru had only given him the bare details in the e-mail he had sent him. He wasn't all that surprised really that Taichi had told him in all honesty since it was something his brother should know in case Devimon did happen to show up.

"Then you my dear brother can come save me," Takeru told him as he looked at Yamato. "After all if he traps me in an illusion I'll suddenly vanish so you'll know what has happened. As for that certain someone, since he is only an Adult Digimon, Metal Garurumon should be able to deal with him and if not I'd be really surprised and know then that he's just an illusion as well. Besides I doubt I'll freeze up just from seeing him." He'd probably get extremely angry and want to punch him or something, but freeze? No he didn't think he would freeze. Well he hoped he wouldn't...

"Are you sure? From what Taichi told me you reacted pretty badly when you thought there was a small possibility he would come back. Can you honestly tell me, Takeru, that you wouldn't react poorly if you did happen to see Devimon again? I mean look what you did to Ken just for taking a bit of his data," Yamato reminded him and Takeru wasn't sure just what type of answer he could or should give his brother,

"Don't worry," Patamon said as he flew over to Takeru landing on his lap and looked up at his friend. "The only thing Takeru has to worry about is how fast it'll take one of us to send him back where he came from!" Takeru smiled at his friend while Yamato just sighed. Luna looked at Yamato for a moment before she pulled one of her cards out of her pouch. There was a flash of light that caused everyone to look at her as she handed it over to Takeru.

"What is it?" Takeru asked as he looked at it. He was used to seeing these things with some type of words on it, but this one was completely blank besides the pattern that was on the back. The whole back and red diamonds in checkerboard pattern.

"You'll know when you need it," Luna said then sighed when Takeru continued to stare at her. He obviously wasn't going to take that type of answer and neither where the others. "It's whatever you want it to be as long as it is something I'm capable of currently making. It might help or it might not, but that's the most I can offer you."

"That's still a bit vague," Takeru said as he looked at the card again. Just what was within her limit to make? After all she had managed to make not one, but two Digimon. For now Takeru slid it into his pocket before he somehow used it for something stupid.

"Yeah well without being able to know more about what could happen like I said that's the most I can do for you. That and be there so Bithamon can fight, but even that isn't much since she can't go past her Adult stage yet," Luna told him.

"I'm beginning to wonder if they can," Trace answered as he looked at Rascmon. He'd been stuck at his Adult stage a lot longer than Bithamon had. The fiery dog Digimon just shrugged. It wasn't like he could know. If he did he would have told them by now.

"Give them a chance Trace you're better off then some of us who require Jogress evolving to reach higher than adult ranks," Ken told him and Trace nodded. "Besides your life hasn't been in danger since Luna made those bracelets for you."

"Still wish we could be more help," Trace grumbled and Takeru couldn't really blame him. It really wasn't a nice feeling when one felt worthless when things kept going bad like they were.

"Anything else we can cover? I'm not going to let Takeru do this unless I know it's actually going to work," Yamato said as he looked around the room and Takeru couldn't help but wonder just how he would stop him. Not that he would do this without Yamato's approval because that was a good way to get himself killed since it would mean at least one less person that would be helping him come back alive.

"Keep an eye out if he chooses any place in the Digital World that isn't open. He might decide if he requests the trade to soon and you guys can't fight that it'll be to his advantage to just attack then to do the trade," Aiden told them as he continued to translate the papers as he spoke. "He shouldn't have very many powerful Digimon left with him right now since Minervamon took it upon herself to take as many down as she could before she was forced to devolve to her Egg. From what I know of though he has one hell of a recruitment policy. The help me or die type."

"I wish him luck then. If they find out they are going to end up going against us they might just choose to take their chances and go after him any way. We are known he is an unknown," Daisuke said and Takeru knew he was right. There wasn't any Digimon that didn't know about them at this point and none of them would be very willing to go up against them unless there was some type of guarantee they would in fact win. After all, as Daisuke had put it, why face up against a group that was known for winning compared to an unknown Digimon you never heard about who was suddenly threatening to kill you if you didn't listen to him?

"Some of them are joining freely as well. They're the type that want to test their power out on you and don't really care for anything other then fighting," Aiden said as he looked up from what he was doing for a moment. "If you're lucky he'll get more of those type and they might just end up fighting each other like they did the last time."

"He's an idiot if he recruits more of those type of Digimon..." Daisuke muttered and V-mon agreed with him. It would just help them in the long run instead of hindering them.

"Don't carry the key in your pocket or in any other obvious place that might get checked by him. Other wise Kitsumon will most likely find it and take it away from you. Then you'd be in trouble," Aiden added ignoring what Daisuke said.

"Anything else?" Hikari asked him.

"Yeah Kitsumon is going to know you won't hand over Takeru without some type of plan. He's going to do everything he can to foil your plans so you guys have got to figure out several different ways to beat him. Whatever plan you guys make you are going to need to think of the ways it can go wrong, acknowledge it then find ways around them. Then have more plans in case your back up ones do manage to fail somehow. Kitsumon may act like this is all a game to him, but he wants Takeru and Patamon badly and he will be willing to do anything he can to get them."

"Well this is going to be fun," Trace said with a sigh. Takeru hadn't thought this was going to be easy, but as Aiden spoke he realized it was going to be a lot harder than he had previously thought it would be because Takeru knew he was right.

They all stayed in the room for awhile discussing different plans and throwing out others. Soon Taichi and some of the others arrived to lend their point of views on the matter. By the time most of the Chosen had to leave to head home they weren't any closer to a plan that Yamato would actually agree on. Takeru had begun to wonder if he would agree on a plan. He knew Yamato was doing his best to look out for him and Takeru was thankful to him, but sometimes one had to take chances. Takeru, in all honesty, wasn't sure if he was one hundred percent certain that he actually wanted to take this type of chance for Aiden. The red head teen wasn't exactly someone he would consider a friend. For Botamon, however, he was more than willing to do it. Botamon had gone out of his way as Black War Greymon to make sure Hikari's Digimon was safe once she had been knocked out of that one battle and had put his life on the line to keep Aiden safe. Botamon deserved more then to be left in the hands of someone like Kitsumon.

Before Hikari had gone home with Kohana Aiden had given her his key to the apartment he was currently living in. Since Kitsumon was the one paying for it somehow more than likely the payments had stopped as soon as Aiden had betrayed him. Aiden wasn't even sure how Kitsumon had gotten a hold of the apartment in the first place, but there was no reason for Kitsumon to keep it. With Aiden no longer helping him there was no one else the fox Digimon had on his team that would need it. Aiden wanted his stuff out of that place before the owner decided to sell it or worse Kitsumon went after it for some reason. He had told Hikari when she had gotten the key if nothing else he wanted the two black boxes he had stored in the closet he didn't really care about what happened to the rest of it since he could replace it, but those two boxes where irreplaceable. Hikari had promised that she would bring them back for him.

Since Aiden was obviously not going to cause them any more trouble with what had happened Takeru decided to go ahead and go home with Taichi and Yamato escorting him to make sure nothing happened on the way. Takeru was looking forward to being able to get some sleep but he wasn't quiet certain if he could trust the dream catcher completely. It wasn't because he didn't trust Aderes, she had more than ample opportunity to do something to him already, something about her just made it hard for him to distrust her as well, but it was because she had told him it only hid him. It wasn't absolute in other words. Something hidden could be found as far as Takeru was concerned which meant Kitsumon could try to reach him if he really wanted to. Takeru would sleep tonight though because he really wanted to try and get his sleeping habit back to normal before it was completely wrecked.

It Kitsumon did happen to find him while he slept then Takeru would just have to deal with it at that time. For now he wasn't going to worry about it because he already had enough to worry about as it was. Like would he really escape alive if he did trade himself for Botamon? Or if he was going to come through this entire ordeal in one piece and he meant mentally just as much as he did physically. Yes, there was a lot more to worry about right now and most of it he couldn't do anything about which made it that much more worse as far as he was concerned.

Despite his worries Takeru didn't have too hard of a time falling asleep that night. He didn't dream of Aderes nor did he happen to encounter Kitsumon either. For once he had a normal, every day dreams. The type one wouldn't recall once they had woken up the next day.


	26. What Once Was

_It Kitsumon did happen to find him while he slept then Takeru would just have to deal with it at that time. For now he wasn't going to worry about it because he already had enough to worry about as it was. Like would he really escape alive if he did trade himself for Botamon? Or if he was going to come through this entire ordeal in one piece and he meant mentally just as much as he did physically. Yes, there was a lot more to worry about right now and most of it he couldn't do anything about which made it that much more worse as far as he was concerned._

_Despite his worries Takeru didn't have too hard of a time falling asleep that night. He didn't dream of Aderes nor did he happen to encounter Kitsumon either. For once he had normal, everyday dreams though he didn't recall them once he had awoken the next day_

Takeru was a bit surprised when Hikari showed up the next morning with Kohana and their two Digimon. "I thought you were going to Aiden's apartment today?" Takeru asked as he let them in. The two teenage girls stopped in the entrance way to switch their shoes for slippers while their Digimon walked past them. Takeru was pleased to see both of the Digimon had evolved since the last time he had seen them now they were at their Child Stage.

"We are but I thought it would probably be best to bring you along since he is a boy after all," Hikari told him as she followed him into the living room. Takeru realized she had a point, but he doubted Aiden would have given her the key if there was something there he didn't want her to see. "Besides we may need more help carrying things," she added grinning slightly. Takeru shook his head knowing he wasn't going to be a whole lot of help with his bruised ribs.

"A lot of help I'm going to be," Takeru mumbled and Hikari just shrugged.

"He did tell us there was nothing we needed to worry about, but we just wanted to be safe," Kohana said as she followed both of them proving Takeru had been right about his assumption. It had actually been Kohana that had brought it to Hikari's attention that it would be best to bring one of their guy friends along with them just in case. Since the two of them where trying their best to distract Takeru from thinking to hard about what was going on lately he was the obvious choice for the two of them. Even if he couldn't really help them carry things.

"Did you guys happen to bring anything with you to carry his things in?" Takeru asked them as he walked into his room to grab his keys and things. Patamon was in the living room with Tokamon and his mother. After the two girls had greeted her they followed after Takeru while their Digimon stayed in the living room.

"I grabbed some old tote bags my mom uses when she goes shopping," Kohana told him showing him one tote bag that had more stuffed inside. "Aiden said that he didn't have much there so we didn't see a need for anything else." Takeru nodded then slid his closet door open and pulled out an old duffle bag he used to use when he was on the basketball team then slid the door close.

"I'll bring this along just in case," Takeru told her and she nodded. Takeru then went into the living room. "Mom is it alright if I go and help Hikari and Kohana-chan move Aiden's things out of his apartment since they don't want to go alone?" Takeru asked her as he leaned against the back of the couch.

"It's alright Takeru I'm glad that you are going with them," Natsuko told him smiling. "Can you pick up a few things for me on your way back?" she asked mainly looking at Hikari and Kohana wanting to make sure it was alright with them.

"Sure!" Hikari told her and she took the shopping list from her. They then walked towards the door their Digimon following after them.

"Have a safe trip!" Natsuko called after them.

"We will!"

-X-

Hikari used the key Aiden gave her to unlock the door and walked inside. Tsumon rushed past her and the others while they were taking their shoes off. There weren’t any slippers which really didn't surprise any of them so they just walked in with their socks on doing best not to slip on the few steps of hardwood before they reached the tatami mats. "Whoa he wasn't kidding when he said he didn't have a lot..." Tsumon commented as he looked around the room.

"You're not supposed to in these types of rooms Tsumon. That room, the kitchen, bathroom and balcony are it. There isn't room for a lot," Kohana commented as she was checking through the cupboards in the small kitchen to see if there was anything inside. "It's mainly meant for people who can't afford much rent any ways which means they wouldn't own a lot to fill it up with in the first place."

"Yes which is why college students and even some high school students use them because they can afford it on what they make from their part time jobs," Hikari added while she was taking items off the collapsible table so she could fold it up. Takeru decided to check the closet and slid one of the doors open. He almost instantly found the two black boxes Aiden had told Hikari he wanted the most sitting on the floor of the closet. Takeru knelt down to pull them out noting they had a bit of weight to them.

"Good thing I did come along. I don't think either one of you would be willing or able to carry these two for very long," Takeru said as he set the boxes down near Hikari. Kohana walked over to them to add three bowels, three cups and three sets of personal chopsticks so Hikari could pack them. She then went back to get more stuff.

"Ha ha very funny. If they're that heavy a Digimon can carry them because you certainly are not," Hikari told him as she looked at him and Takeru grinned.

"Aw you do care about me," he said as he walked back to the closet to see what else was inside.

"Like a brother... One of those annoying little ones that you always have to take care of," Hikari said causing Kohana to laugh. "Anyway good thing we thought to bring old newspaper with us," Hikari commented as she pulled the tote bags out that where in the one then some newspaper and began wrapping the cups and bowels up into it. Takeru just shook his head slightly at Hikari's comment turning his focus onto the closet.

There were two futons in there which Takeru realized probably wouldn't fit in the tote bags, but he pulled them out and set them near the table that was now leaning against a wall in the corner of the room. After that it was mainly clothing, a few books and some odds and ends in the closet. All of these were set near Hikari who now had the rest of the dinning items as well as cookware and Takeru noted a few cups of instant ramen as well.

Tsumon had decided to tackle the bathroom and came back with a few personal care products out of there as well as some other things. As for Tailmon and Patamon, they had decided to check the balcony finding laundry that had been left there to dry and between the two of them they had been able to bring it in to be packed. The last thing Hikari packed was Aiden's school uniform that had been hung up on the closet doors. She then made a quick check to make sure that they hadn't missed anything while Takeru fought to get one of the futons into the duffel bag while Kohana tried to get one into a tote bag. She only succeeded once she had separated the blanket from the actual futon and Takeru followed her plan handing over the blanket so it could be packed with the other one.

Both of the futons stuck of the bags awkwardly but it would do for now. "Well that seems to be everything," Hikari said as she walked over to pick up the table and a bag. Kohana picked up the a few while Tsumon took hold of the two black boxes. That left Takeru with the duffel bag which he tightened the strap so it wouldn't move around on him and the last two tote bags. Takeru had a feeling they happened to be the lightest ones.

"Will you be able to carry those all the way back to the hotel?" Takeru asked him knowing they weren't light at all.

Tsumon nodded his head. "Yep!"

"Do you think the hotel will get mad at us for bringing this stuff to Aiden?" Hikari asked Kohana and Takeru.

"I think they will only if it gets left behind when the Star siblings check out..." Kohana said as they walked towards the door. "If they do before then we can at least store the futons and table at my home until Aiden decides just what he is going to do now."

"Without Kitsumon its either he has to go back home now or stay here and get a job while attending high school. I know which one he would prefer between the two, but whether or not he can pull off a job and school with his trouble reading Japanese remains to be seen," Takeru told them as they walked out. The six ended up giving the key to one of Aiden's neighbors to be returned to the landowner before they began the walk towards the hotel where the Star Siblings were staying in.

"Maybe he can stay with one of us for cheaper rent? I mean then he'd only have to worry about his share of the bills and food really or maybe not at all," Hikari suggested.

"The only ones with the room are those with their own apartments or have older siblings that have moved out. You and I don't fit that rule because me for obvious reasons and you because your father turned Taichi's old room back into his office once he moved out. Which would leave either Daisuke or Miyako or as I said one with their own apartment."

"I might be able to convince my brother. It wouldn't harm his reputation any to put up a foreign exchange student..."

"As long as they don't somehow find out just how foreign he really is," Takeru pointed out.

"That would be fun to explain," Kohana said as she thought it over then she grimaced. "I can also see it causing a lot of trouble. I mean the governments didn't react kindly to the Digital World..."

"Yeah they would probably panic at the idea of other worlds and might even try to start a war with some of them. Maybe my brother isn't the best choice after all," Hikari said not at all liking the idea now. Anyone that currently opposed his views where trying their hardest to discredit Taichi in any way they could. With how young he was it really wasn't going that well for them at all and it didn't help that Taichi just didn't cause much trouble for anything, but the right reasons.

"It would probably be best to let the others think of it for themselves if they do. If not then maybe I'll try bringing it up with my brother..." Takeru said and the other two nodded. As they walked Takeru was noticing they were getting a few odd looks and most likely the table was at fault, but Takeru did his best to ignore them. It probably wouldn't have been such a strange sight if it was closer to the start of a semester for a school or something. This time of year it was a bit out of place.

It took them a bit longer to get to the hotel then it normally would have because Takeru needed to take a few breaks even with how little he was carrying. The girls had made sure to actually take the heavier of the tote bags leaving him with the two lightest ones like he had thought. He wasn't the only one needing them since the boxes Tsumon was carrying weren't exactly light. In all honesty though he need half as many as Takeru needed.

When they did arrive Tailmon ran ahead of them to push the elevator button so by the time they reached it she had one waiting for them. When they had arrived on the floor the rooms where on they noticed Trace was sitting in the hallway on a chair from one of the rooms a handheld game system in hand. Rascmon was laying down beside him sound asleep. "Is something wrong?" Hikari asked him as they walked up to him wondering just why he would be out in the hallway like this.

Trace paused his game before he looked up at them. "Not really... I just wanted some time alone and this is as far as I can get without upsetting Luna," he said with a shrug. "Aiden's in there with Ken and Koushiro now. Ken is scanning the rest of the papers you managed to translate so far, Kohana, to send them to Sora's father. As for Koushiro, he is looking through the computer with Aiden's help to see if there might be anything hidden on it. From what I could understand of what he was saying it seems to be of a similar make to the laptops in this world."

"Well I hope they find something useful about the virus especially if Kitsumon was able to make more of it," Takeru said as Tailmon walked up to the door and knocked on it. Aiden must have felt better because he was the one that opened the door with Punimon sitting on top of his head. Though Takeru did note he had one of those stick on ice packs on his forehead.

"We got your things," Tailmon told him as he stepped aside to let them in. They ended up setting down the bags and boxes on the bed while leaning the table against the wall in a place it would hopefully be out of the way.

"I also gave the key to the neighbor like you asked me to," Hikari told him as Aiden pulled out a change of clothes from one of the bags. He was really tired of walking around in pajamas

"Thanks for getting my stuff for me," Aiden told them before he went into the bathroom to change. When he came out again he looked carefully at the boxes before moving the lower one to the top of the pile. There must have been some way to tell the two of them apart though Takeru had no clue how. Aiden opened the one he had pulled to the top up and while Takeru couldn't see what was inside of it, but he could tell that the walls of the box had to be at least six centimeters thick. No wonder they had been so heavy! Aiden took something of it then closed the box. Whatever it was Aiden tossed it at Takeru, who, not expecting something to be thrown at him barely caught it before it hit the floor.

"What is it?" Takeru asked before he even looked at it. When he did it at first appeared to be nothing more than a flat stone. Then he realized that it was a crest! He really should have recognized the once very familiar shape of it, but there was no real color to it. The crest was just gray like the stone Takeru had first mistaken it for. To Takeru's shock he soon realized that it was actually the Crest of Hope!

"I told you that I found the Crest back on my own world," he reminded Takeru causing Kohana and Hikari to walk over to Takeru to look at it as well. "They all seemed to turn to stone after their owners died," he added as he sat down on the bed. "The crests are fine for you guys to look at but I wouldn't chance the Armor eggs if I were you. I don't know if they'll do anything to the ones you own."

"What about the Crest of Kindness?" Ken asked since his crest was still very much active and unlike the others he still had his. He was on the other bed currently with his laptop and a scanner hooked up to it. When one paper was scanned he would pull it out and put in a file then start on another one. Kohana sat down with her back against a wall and began to work translating more of the papers into Japanese that Aiden had translated into English. They still weren't sure what they should do with the English ones once she was done with them. Ken had suggested just putting them all in a folder together and at some point mail it out to Sora's father. The others weren't too sure about it. They were afraid something might happen to it while being mailed.

"Is it on you?" Aiden asked looking at him. He certainly hoped that it wasn't. It hadn't even occurred to him that Ken might have his crest with him.

"No I don't usually carry it with me. I keep it at home in my room," Ken told him then asked, "Are you just afraid something will happen if they come in contact with one another?"

Aiden nodded. "Yep, I could care less if Taichi or Yamato looked at the Armor Eggs without any of the rest of you in the room that carried them, but that box remains closed as long as one of you are near it," Aiden told them as he opened the box back up as Takeru handed him the Crest of Hope back. Like the one the rest where all gray stones with the symbols still showing on them. Some of them where even in pieces but all of them where in the case. Takeru had to admit he had mixed feelings seeing the crests like this even if they didn't belong to him and his friends.

"How come they weren't given back to the Digital World like ours were?" Koushirou asked him taking a break from working on the laptop. So far he hadn't found anything special on it. Aiden had managed to switch the language to English so Koushirou could read it, but it was slow work for him since he didn't know the system well enough yet. The content of the documents and things where still in the other language so Aiden did have to help out every once in awhile.

"Don't know. I can barely remember what most of them look like without the help of the photo's my grandmother left me. Things must have developed differently for them than it did you guys at some point or another. All I know is I found them scattered all over the place in cities, towns, or out in the middle of nowhere. I found the last one not all that long ago even... Then again there might be more they might have ended up with more then you guys got," he answered them as he starred at the open box. He wasn't the only one starring either. All of the Chosen Children in the room where and each one had mixed feelings about the contents of the box.

Aiden didn't really think there were more Chosen on his world compared to this one. The pictures he had didn't show more than the same number of Chosen on this one, but that didn't mean someone else on his world hadn't ended up with one. If they had it really didn't matter to him as only these ones where connected to his parents. "I'd return them to my Digital World if I could get into it but like I said it's sealed and I can't. Since they obviously don't want them they're mine now."

Takeru starred at the box for a moment longer a shiver running down his spine before he looked at Aiden. "Do you happen to know if Kitsumon is from your world or not?" Takeru asked him trying to change subjects for now while also wondering just what else he was now willing to answer since he seemed open to talking. Aiden didn't show much expression when talking about a group of people that included his parents and Takeru noticed he acted like they weren't really related to him at all. He talked about them as a group not as separate people. It made him feel a bit uneasy the way he talked about them. Almost as if he really didn't care about the fact that they were dead.

Aiden looked at Takeru for a moment before he closed the box. Takeru had a feeling Aiden knew why he had changed the subject, but if he did Aiden didn't say anything about it. "In all honesty? I really don't know. He showed up one day in front of me as Kitsumon and claimed to have known the Chosen from my world before they had died. At first he was sickeningly sweet to me trying to win me over. Still I was weary of him since he was the first Digimon besides my own that I had seen in awhile, but then he began to tell me about your world. The idea of a world where Digimon where still freely wandering between a Digital World and a Human World where they were still friends of those humans was very appealing... It was like he was offering me a chance to see how things once where before the virus was ever released on my home world. Hell he almost won me over with that alone," Aiden told them chuckling slightly though it was obvious by the tone of his voice that Aiden really did long for a world like that, but he had to make do with this one. What he really wanted he could not have which was his own world without the virus ever existing.

"Anyway at first I didn't really understand why he wanted me to learn Japanese since I knew from things he had told me my language or English, as it's called here, was used on this world. Then he began to tell me stories about you guys. At the time I thought he wanted me to meet up with you guys. Maybe even warn you about what had occurred on my world and thus the reason I had to learn Japanese. He left out the part that you guys could actually speak English..."

"When did you begin to realize things weren't just what they seemed to be?" Ken asked him wondering what had happened to make Kitsumon turn into the entity known as Red who would poses Shiatanmon before going back to Kitsumon. He couldn't help but wonder just how he had managed to do it as well.

"Not long before my grandmother died. He was trying ridiculously hard to get me to leave with him while her health was failing. I wasn't exactly sure why and still not completely sure, but there was one time he actually freaked out on me. It was bad enough that it caused Black Gabumon and Black Agumon to evolve at the same time because they feared for my safety... It was actually the first time they evolved now that I think on it... After that he left me alone for awhile and I started to hear rumors of how one of the military bases had been attacked that was part of the investigation as to why the Digimon had gone berserk. Apparently not everyone knew the truth behind the virus not even what was left of the military.

"To tell you the truth I think the main reason Kitsumon might have been interested in me was because I could speak my grandmother's native tongue. I don't really know how he knew I could I only spoke it at home and my grandmother hardly left home by the time he started showing up, but he did somehow know the papers and other things related to the virus where written in it. He wanted me to teach it to him in exchange for learning Japanese. I went along with it because at that time I thought it was only fair. Seeing these papers now though I really wish I hadn't..."

"There wasn't any way you could have known why he wanted to learn it," Takeru told him as he sat down on the edge of one of the beds ignoring the fact that was the same thing he had been telling himself about Botamon.

"Yeah but I should have figured something was going on when another Digimon suddenly appears out of nowhere when from what I knew of mine where the only two Digimon left in my world. More so when he didn't want me to tell my grandmother about him or where I was getting the books from. Still I was just too happy to see another Digimon and was hoping he was somehow connected to a human. I remember I was depressed for nearly a week after he told me he was a Digimon unattached to a human..." Aiden said causing Punimon to make a noise. Aiden picked him up off his head and smiled at him. "Doesn't really matter now anyways. Even if he was somehow connected to a human I doubt I would have wanted to meet whatever person was crazy enough to have that type of Digimon as their partner."

"Ugh I really don't want to think of what type of partner he'd have to have if he had one..." Hikari said shivering slightly. "He'd probably be a lot worse than Kitsumon.

"Or someone to scared of his own Digimon that he wouldn't do anything to stop him," Kohana said as she looked up from what she was working on and Hikari nodded in agreement. "I've seen a couple of Digimon like that where I used to live. It didn't last very long though because most of the time another Digimon would get tired of it and remind them that there was always someone stronger than them so picking on their own human who could help make them strong just wasn't very wise."

"Except in the case of Kitsumon no one would have been able to teach him that," Tsumon said and Kohana nodded in agreement.

"Not unless they managed to catch him while he was in his child stage. Kitsumon couldn't have always been an Ultimate level Digimon," Patamon pointed out to Tsumon who nodded in agreement.

"Well it's something we don't have to worry about. If he had a human partnered with him I doubt he would have kept them hidden for so long. Knowing him he probably would have used him in some type of plot to throw us for a loop or something by now," Koushirou said as he turned his attention back to the laptop.

"Well if we suddenly do have someone come up asking for help we'll learn from Trace and not go off on our own only to find out that it's a trap when it’s too late," Takeru said recalling what Trace had told them about how he had lost his key in the first place.

Since there was really nothing Takeru could really do to help the others for the moment he didn't stay in the room for very long. Hikari stayed to talk to Aiden while Kohana continued to work on translating the papers into Japanese. Takeru walked out into the hall to find Trace was still out there. Rascmon had woken up and had moved to where he could see what Trace was playing now. "What exactly are you playing?" Takeru asked him not recognizing the game system at all now that he was actually looking at it.

"Something that's from my home world... It's an open world fantasy role playing game. One of the few types I don't get bored of very easily," Trace answered him as he paused it so he could talk without dying in the game. "Learn anything useful?"

"Not anything about Kitsumon that I didn't already know. I did learn some new things about Aiden though," Takeru said as he leaned back against the wall near Trace. Trace had said earlier that he wanted alone time and if he said it again Takeru would leave him alone, but Trace didn't seem to mind him being here. "He's now more willing to answer questions though I can't think of any at the moment that I really want to ask him now," Takeru added.

"Isn't that how it always is?" Trace said smiling slightly. "I remember how my sister Krista wouldn't talk to Lee about our parents because it caused her too much pain at the time to do so. Then one day Krista sat him down and told him to ask away because it was better to get it all over at once then to have him keep asking her questions all the time like he was. He ended up asking maybe three questions before he went blank on her. In the end she told him to just write his questions down as they came to him then ask her later."

"I might have to do that," Takeru said and Trace nodded.

"Any more dreams with Aderes?" Trace asked him and Takeru shook his head.

"No, but I did sleep last night. I did dream, but they were normal every day dreams from what little I can remember of them."

"A lot better than finding yourself face to face with Kitsumon," Trace commented and Takeru nodded in agreement. "Be careful though, Takeru. I don't mean of her since she had enough chances to hurt you if she was going to do so, but of whomever it was that attacked you."

"Don't worry I will be. She won't tell me who it was, but she seems to think that it won't happen again," Takeru told him. He had seen the bruises on his own neck from the attack last night after he had bathed. It had made him shiver and he had worn a shirt with no sleeves with a long neck in order to hide them. He really didn't want to try and answer questions about the bruises if someone should ask him.

Takeru didn't want to stay at the hotel for very long since there was nothing he could do to help at the moment and he didn't want to impose on the Star siblings too much. The problem was he knew if he tried to leave without Hikari he'd hear it from more than one person later on. Right now he was in enough trouble with his brother for volunteering to help Aiden. He really didn't want to give him more reason to be mad at him.

Since the conversation had lagged Trace went back to playing his game not at all upset that Takeru stayed there to watch him play with Rascmon. The screen was a lot better quality then Takeru's DS Lite so he had no trouble seeing what was going on during the game. It wasn't long, however, before Hikari came out of the room followed by Tailmon. "Kohana is going to stay behind to translate as many of the papers as she can," Hikari told him. "Is there anything you where wanting to do besides picking up the things your mom wanted?" Hikari asked him holding up the list she had gotten from Natsuko.

Takeru took it from her and was about to answer her when he spotted a child level Digimon walking through the hallway heading straight for them. He passed Hikari and Tailmon and walked up to Takeru. "Are you Takeru?" he asked and Takeru nodded as Patamon hopped of his head standing beside Takeru in case this Digimon somehow meant trouble. The Digimon handed Takeru an envelope then took off running before Takeru could ask him anything about it. Takeru looked at the envelope and saw that his name was written on the front of it in English using red ink. Seeing his name in English made him a bit suspicious of it. Takeru didn't know anyone that would write to him in English besides maybe Aiden.

Still in case it was something important Takeru carefully opened it up. Inside of it was a piece of white paper which Takeru pulled out. It was obviously a letter written in English with the same red ink that his name had been written in. Takeru was able to read it easily enough as it had been written in common English not some slang form or complicated words. "Whose it from?" Hikari asked him after he stuffed it back into the envelope none to gently.

He starred at the envelope for a moment before looking at Hikari. "It's from Kitsumon," Takeru told her as he walked towards the door she had come out of not that long ago. "It's his terms on how to get Botamon back from him." Most likely Aiden was the true reason the letter had been written in English not because Kitsumon couldn't write in Japanese. He wanted to make sure Aiden understood the terms clearly without making any mistakes. While common English had been used in order for Takeru to understand it. Takeru opened the door and walked over to Aiden holding the envelope out to the red headed teen. "You are going to want to read this."

To Be Continued

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I am going to explain something and I can only hope you can understand what I am trying to say. I am going to write an Epilogue for Endanger Hope mark it complete then move onto the third part and the final part of the story called Burning Hope. The reason I am ending it here is because the story has become a race to the finish meaning the quality of the chapters had dropped and it has become a bit of a mental strain on me. I am hoping that by ending it here and continuing with it late October early November (because I have to rewrite the chapters I have already) this will change.  
> Part of what I am going to do is approach the story in a different way. Change up my writing style a bit in hopes to fix the issues I saw even if someone else didn't. I have thought several times that I should have split the story before now as well. The first time that the thought appeared was when Aiden first showed up then later on when Aiden was saved but something stopped me then. I wish I would have split it when Takeru and the others had saved Aiden. It would have been a better spot then here. As to why it says To be continued instead of the end it's because technically it isn't an end? It is just spliting it in two for my benifint and maybe the benefit of those who only read stories after they are marked complete. I am going to work on the Epliogue after I post this up so give me an hour or so to rework the chapter to turn it into an Epilogue then I'll post it up as well.  
> Remember the continuation will be called Burning Hope. Take it to mean what you want I wanted to name it something else but it would be spoilers so nope xD


	27. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer- I do not own Digimon or the idea of Digimon I only own the characters I make up and this storyline. Digimon is copyrighted to Bandai, Toei, and of course its Original Creator and anyone else who might hold the copyright for it.

 

Aiden had starred at the envelope like it would have bit him for a few seconds before he had finally taken it from Takeru. Takeru knew it already confirmed what Aiden had already thought. That Kitsumon would only hand over Botamon in exchange for Takeru, Patamon or the virus. It stated Kitsumon would allow them to chose because he was not very picky about which one he got just as long as he ended up with one of them. When he had finished with it he had handed it off to someone else to read.

The terms where pretty simple; if Aiden chose to hand over the virus he was to come alone for the trade off. However if he somehow managed to get Takeru or Patamon for the trade he was obviously suppose to bring them with them. Either way no one else was supposed to come and if he saw another person the deal would be off. The trade off was suppose to take place in an area within the Digital World known for its large plains. This would prevent one side of the trade from setting up an ambush on the other.

At some point Takeru had sent a text message to his brother while Hikari had sent one to hers. Now that they knew the terms for the trade they needed to form a plan. One that would make it to where Takeru would come out of this alive and one his brother would agree to.

The problem was once everyone had arrived they just seemed to have a circular argument. Kitsumon was good at traps and trickery they all knew that so they had to be sure they planed for everything that could happen. They had to beat the trickster something they all knew would not be easy.

As they continued to argue Takeru only half listened to what they where saying as he sat there thinking over his own plan. He sat in a chair out of the way of the others leaning forward slightly head bowed as he thought his arms resting on his knees hands clasped. His main focus was his part of in the scheme of things the others where working out how to keep this trade off going bad. He had an idea about how he was going to get out of this, but he was not quiet sure just how it would work. After all he really hadno idea how the Key's worked.

He looked up when he felt someone was watching him to see it was Aiden. He held Punimon in his hands the small Digimon was busily gnawing on one of Aiden's thumbs in a playful manner while Aiden would wiggle it once in awhile. When there was a lull in the conversation Aiden asked, “Do you really want to go through with this?” Aiden's face was neutral when he asked him so Takeru had no idea just what he was thinking at the moment. Takeru did know, however, that if he chose not to help Aiden they would most likely never be able to get Aiden to help them again. In all honesty he would probably never trust another human again and while Takeru wouldn't blame him for this it was just another reason for Takeru to help.

“I am going to do this even if everyone cannot agree on some type of plan. I wouldn't want to leave Patamon in Kitsumon's hands so why would I let someone else Digimon suffer that fate if there was something I could do about it?” Takeru asked him. Takeru had no doubt that if the trade was refused all together Kitsumon would either get rid of Botamon or try to use him to make Aiden work for him again. Kitsumon had already made it clear that there was nothing left Aiden could really do for him anymore without forcing him to fight like he had done before. If that happen Aiden and his Digimon would most likely end up dead.

“Because its not your Digimon,” Aiden stated with that neutral look still on his face. Punimon stopped in his play to look up at Aiden confusion on his small face. Takeru couldn't help but wonder just what was he trying to do. Maybe he thought Takeru would back out at the last minute or something?

“My Digimon or not I am not going to let him keep Botamon. You are not forcing me to do this Aiden and I can't say that I am doing this because you are my friend because I don't know you well enough to say this. In fact, I am doing this for Botamon. I saw how desperately him and Punimon fought in order to keep you safe. Not once did those two think of themselves as they fought. They were so badly hurt by the time I arrived that the only reason they were still even able to fight was because of their will power and the energy you provided them! Neither one of them deserves to be abandoned so I am going to do whatever it is I have to do in order to make sure Botamon is safe,” Takeru told him hoping Aiden would trust him. If Aiden didn't trust him then this wasn't going to work. It would most likely end in disaster somehow for him and Botamon.

He watched as Aiden looked at Punimon as he thought over what Takeru had said. Then he nodded his head and looked at Takeru and said, “Thank you.” Takeru nodded smiling slightly.

“There is one thing I am confused about. If Kitsumon managed to recreate the virus why is he asking for the data in exchange for Botamon?” Taichi asked everyone and Takeru glanced at him. It was a good question. Just why would Kitsumon need the data?

“I don't know for certain that he did anymore…” Aiden told them and that had everyone's attention on him. “There is a chance that he might have been extracting it from some of the old Digivices from my world. You remember the ones that I told you turned to stone?” he asked and several people in the room nodded. “At his hideout he had a whole crate full of them. I couldn't think of any other reason for him to have them so I had Black Were Garurumon destroy them before we tried to leave just to be safe. If I am wrong and he did somehow manage to make the virus then most likely he didn't make enough for whatever he has planned and wasn't smart enough to copy down just how he had made it onto something other then those papers,” Aiden told them as he waved at the various things he had taken. Takeru didn't think that likely. If Kitsumon had made it he would have copied the formula down in multiple places because he wouldn't have trusted them not to try and take it.

“If there was even a slightest chance that they could have been used then I'm glad that you did destroy them. I'm sure their owners would rather you do that then they be used to cause more suffering,” Taichi said as he looked at Aiden.

“So am I. I don't know for sure, but I think your world might have even more Digimon then what mine did and if that is true it would be a lot worse for you guys then it had been on mine,” Aiden told him. “I wouldn't want to see what would become of this world if Kitsumon did release the virus.”

“No one would want to see that,” Takeru told him, “And not just because of how destructive it would be but also because I wouldn't want to see a Digimon actually kill someone.” The others nodded in agreement and the discussion was turned back to planning. There was just so many things that could go wrong that they had to prepare for.

Takeru only half paid attention again as he thought over his own part of the plan again. When there was a lull in conversation again Takeru glanced up and noticed Hikari had left. He had heard something about scouting the area the trade was to take place so that was most likely where she had gone.

“How do you get a key to make a door appear?” Takeru asked Trace and Luna both of whom where sitting near him.

“It's actually more simple then you probably think it is. All you really gotta do is think of the place you want to go and imagine that there is a path connecting where you are to where you wanna go. It's why doors appear because it isn't that hard to imagine that when you open a door it'll take you to where you want to go. Just think of it and it should appear for you,” Trace explained to him.

“Should?” Yamato asked looking at the twins.

“Should means a lot of things in this case,” Luna said and the two brothers looked at each other before the twins.

“Care to explain?” Takeru asked the twins.

“Well for one thing the keys had never been used by a human. I mean yeah technically Lu and I are human, but we are a bit different then you guys. I mean that should be pretty obvious with what we do and all. Lu warned you that you wouldn't be able to open more then one door like Lee in the beginning, but you will never be able to open more then one a day. There is also the problem that if your thoughts are interrupted before the door has a chance to form it might not work. Also by interrupted I don't mean that you can't think of other things. As long as you keep thinking about where you want to go and the means to get there the door will appear. What I mean by interrupted is if you stop thinking about it completely the door won't come,” Trace elaborated. “It's not like you have to clear your mind of everything else to do this otherwise Lee would never had made a doorway appear for him! Hell even I wouldn't get one!”

“What happens if he stops thinking about it once the door as already appeared?” Taichi asked wanting to make sure they knew everything they possibly could about how this worked.

“It wouldn't matter. It'll stay there until he actually thinks about sending it away and yes it has to be him that thinks about that Kitsumon can't send it away on him. He also can't open it himself either only the maker of the door can so once Takeru closes it behind him Kitsumon can't get through. As a bonus Takeru will only be able to make a door big enough for him to go through anyway so even if Takeru can't close it in time Kitsumon would have to force himself through it which would give Takeru the chance to get away from him. If that does happen we'll be able to be there quick enough to back him up,” Luna told them trying to cover everything that they might be able to think of.

“Will energy be taken if I fail to call a doorway?” Takeru asked them and the twins shook their heads.

“Nope it will only be consumed if you are successful,”Trace answered him and Takeru nodded.

Awhile later, Hikari returned and told everyone what she had found out about the place the trade was to take place. Takeru paid attention this time as they adjusted their plan to fit the area since they know knew what it looked like.

“So we all agree on this plan then?” Taichi asked everyone that was present at the time and they all nodded. “You sure? No last minute changes?” He asked looking mainly at Yamato, but no one spoke up. “Alright then this is what we are going with. We'll use the time before the trade is to take place to get the opinions of everyone else and Takeru?”

“Yes?” Takeru asked as he looked at Taichi.

“Don't do anything stupid.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That is it for Endangered Hope I know it's a weird spot to leave off and I apologize for this, but you only have to wait until late October, early November for Burning Hope to start up. Also yeah the plan is a bit vague on purpose. You'll see why in Burning Hope.
> 
> Hope to see ya all soon. If you have any questions please feel free to post them in a review

**Author's Note:**

> A/N – Yeah so I mislead you with the ending of GA’s epilogue and the preview of this chapter. I couldn’t help it : 3. No really I couldn’t, I didn’t think of Trace not being the real one until literally when Rascmon woke up ^-^;. I hope you like the continuation of Guardian Angel. Any questions, comments, grammar or spelling corrections are much luv’ed.


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